Meeder Asset Management Inc. Buys 56,594 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Meeder Asset Management massively increased its position in Williams Companies, buying 56,594 shares in the first quarter and lifting its stake to 57,095 shares valued at about $4.16 million.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 EPS of $0.73, beating analyst expectations, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below estimates and was slightly lower year over year.
• The company continues to draw a bullish Wall Street outlook, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $83.56, while paying a quarterly dividend of $0.525 for a 2.9% annualized yield.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 11,296.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 57,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 56,594 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,155,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Main Street Group LTD purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $26,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 59.4% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 102.5% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 480 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of WMB opened at $73.34 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.17, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a 50-day moving average of $74.37 and a 200 day moving average of $71.40.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Truist Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $83.56.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc NYSE: WMB is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.

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