Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Geneos Wealth Management Inc.

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 23.4%, now holding 18,851 shares valued at approximately $1.13 million.
• Several hedge funds have increased their holdings in Williams Companies, with Goldman Sachs raising its stake by 45% and GAMMA Investing LLC increasing its position by a staggering 6,407.2% during the same quarter.
• Williams Companies reported earnings of $0.46 per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.49, and has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 payable on September 29th.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,851 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 5,760 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.0% in the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $674,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares during the period. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $112,706,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $58.84 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $44.51 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. The stock has a market cap of $71.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.65. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $58.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue 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. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.50%.

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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