Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Simplicity Wealth LLC has increased its stake in Williams Companies by 105.0%, now owning 7,646 shares valued at approximately $480,000.
• Multiple analysts have upgraded Williams Companies' ratings, with price targets ranging from $63.00 to $78.00, indicating positive market sentiment.
• Williams Companies recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 3.1% despite a payout ratio exceeding 100%.

Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 105.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,646 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,917 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 9.7% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,407 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $263,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Williams Companies by 4.5% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,851 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $947,000 after acquiring an additional 685 shares in the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $357,000. Finally, OLD National Bancorp IN raised its position in Williams Companies by 17.9% during the first quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN now owns 6,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $379,000 after acquiring an additional 965 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $65.53.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of WMB opened at $63.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $48.51 and a one year high of $65.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $59.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.02.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 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 firm 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 firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. The firm'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. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly 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 have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $497,715 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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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