Wellington Management Group LLP Acquires 1,680,477 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0%, acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 29.6 million shares valued at $1.77 billion.
• A recent insider transaction revealed that Williams Companies' COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares at $58.47 each, reducing his stake in the company by 5.48%.
• Williams Companies declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with a payout ratio of 100.50%, providing a yield of 3.5% for shareholders of record on September 12th.

Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,680,477 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 2.43% of Williams Companies worth $1,770,336,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Hughes Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.86.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's 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 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. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.5930 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $57.1630. 6,270,156 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,963,207. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.98 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company'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. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.