LPL Financial LLC Has $125.68 Million Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• LPL Financial LLC has decreased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.7%, now owning approximately 2.1 million shares valued at $125.68 million.
• Williams Companies reported earnings of $0.60 per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $0.55, with revenue increasing by 10% year-over-year.
• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Williams Companies, with a price target averaging $61.77, and recent upgrades from firms like Wells Fargo increase the target to $67.00.

LPL Financial LLC lowered its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,102,988 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 35,422 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.17% of Williams Companies worth $125,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 59,121 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,200,000 after acquiring an additional 11,750 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 675.4% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 3,032 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $164,000 after acquiring an additional 2,641 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 209,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $11,365,000 after acquiring an additional 26,084 shares during the period. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 688 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $57.50 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.45. The business has a 50-day moving average of $59.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.23. The company has a market capitalization of $70.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.77.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.

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