Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Grows Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 15.8%, now owning 57,598 shares valued at approximately $3.44 million.
• Williams Companies reported earnings of $0.46 per share, missing the consensus estimate, and set FY 2025 guidance for 2.010-2.190 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with an annual yield of 3.4%, and its current payout ratio is 100.50%.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 15.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,598 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,864 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arnhold LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $207,000. Laffer Tengler Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $4,420,000. RPG Investment Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $380,000. Compound Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 32.2% during the first quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 23,158 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,384,000 after acquiring an additional 5,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.0% during the first quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 47,147 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,818,000 after acquiring an additional 4,283 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Cibc World Mkts raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2%

WMB stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.88. The company had a trading volume of 4,093,394 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,652,738. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $43.98 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The company has a market cap of $70.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.09, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a 50 day moving average of $58.58 and a 200 day moving average of $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

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.