Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies by purchasing 75,513 shares, valued at approximately $4.5 million, during the first quarter of the year.
• Williams Companies recently missed analysts' earnings expectations, reporting $0.46 EPS, below the consensus estimate of $0.49 EPS, while experiencing a revenue of $2.78 billion compared to expectations of $2.90 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend payment of $0.50 per share, resulting in an annual yield of 3.5%, with the payout ratio currently at 100.50%.

Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 75,513 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $4,513,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 27.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,081,000 after purchasing an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $977,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $57.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.71, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $43.98 and a one year 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 business has a fifty day moving average price of $58.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.34.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter 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, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was 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 in the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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