QRG Capital Management Inc. Grows Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, reaching a total of 151,075 shares valued at approximately $9.49 million.
• Williams Companies reported earnings per share of $0.46 for the quarter, missing estimates by $0.03, with a net margin of 21.63% and revenue of $2.78 billion.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, reflecting a 3.1% dividend yield, alongside a payout ratio of 100.50%.

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 151,075 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 4,227 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,489,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,981 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,072,000 after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,366 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $588,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 515.5% in the 2nd quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 21,020 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,320,000 after buying an additional 17,605 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 30,762 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,932,000 after buying an additional 3,491 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $815,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on 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 owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $64.54 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $59.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $58.97. 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 company has a market capitalization of $78.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a PEG ratio of 2.15 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.41 and a 1-year high of $65.55.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WMB. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.53.

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.

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