Northern Trust Corp Acquires 54,902 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 0.4%, owning approximately 1.25% of the company, valued at $913.84 million.
• Williams Companies reported a quarterly earnings miss, with $0.46 EPS against an expected $0.49, while revenue of $2.78 billion also fell short of projections.
• The company recently announced a quarterly $0.50 dividend, which translates to an annual yield of 3.5%, with a payout ratio of 100.5%.

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 54,902 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned about 1.25% of Williams Companies worth $913,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $305,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 598,274 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $32,379,000 after buying an additional 11,373 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 322,612 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $17,460,000 after buying an additional 5,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. CIBC upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.86.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.4%

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.8110 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $56.9890. The stock had a trading volume of 4,663,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,711,600. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $58.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.30. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.98 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market cap of $69.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.64, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. 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.