QRG Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 42.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 87,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 63,633 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 104.8% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This represents a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.29.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $61.56 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.64. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $65.55. The stock has a market cap of $75.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast 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 was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.09%.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.