Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by Baird Financial Group Inc.

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) by 1.6%, acquiring an additional 6,673 shares, bringing their total ownership to 425,836 shares valued at approximately $25.45 million.
• Wells Fargo & Company raised its price target for WMB from $67.00 to $70.00, giving the stock an "overweight" rating, while the average target price among analysts is $62.86.
• Williams Companies declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, with the dividend yield standing at 3.5%, payable on September 29th to stockholders of record on September 12th.

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 425,836 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,673 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,448,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $352,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 294.4% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 339,399 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $18,368,000 after acquiring an additional 253,336 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,986,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 112.8% in the 4th quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,298 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,423,000 after acquiring an additional 13,941 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. 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, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $62.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the 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 represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.22 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.51. 5,554,666 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,633,890. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.98 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $58.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $58.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market cap of $70.13 billion, a PE ratio of 28.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.65.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 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.