IFM Investors Pty Ltd Has $18.06 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 17.6%, selling 64,360 shares, which now leaves them with 302,226 shares valued at approximately $18.06 million.
• Major institutional investors like Goldman Sachs and Nuveen LLC have increased their positions in Williams Companies, indicating strong interest from large financial entities.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, translating to an annual yield of 3.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 100.50%.

IFM Investors Pty Ltd reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 302,226 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 64,360 shares during the period. IFM Investors Pty Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 362.5% in the first quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $87,608,000 after buying an additional 1,149,045 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 14.0% in the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after buying an additional 10,561 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, August 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.49 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $58.84. 5,630,379 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,573,647. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.51 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The company has a market capitalization of $71.75 billion, a PE ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Williams Companies Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.