Vontobel Holding Ltd. Has $2.78 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 11.0% in Q2, now holding 44,240 shares valued at approximately $2.78 million.
• Institutional investors own 86.44% of Williams Companies' stock, highlighting strong interest in the company from large asset managers.
• The company has recently received multiple "outperform" ratings from research firms, with target prices ranging from $60.00 to $83.00, indicating positive analyst sentiment.

Vontobel Holding Ltd. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,240 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 5,453 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st 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 purchasing an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 362.5% during the first quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC now owns 1,465,991 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $87,608,000 after buying an additional 1,149,045 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Good Steward Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $977,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $66.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $65.94.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $62.60 on Friday. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $49.30 and a 1 year high of $65.55. 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 issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.43 EPS. The company'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, research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

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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