Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB is Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s 5th Largest Position

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 353,705 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,034 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 3.2% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $22,407,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,731,000. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 175,784 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,136,000 after buying an additional 4,343 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% during the third quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 659,735 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $41,794,000 after buying an additional 14,552 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 26.1% during the third quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 1,302 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rede Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $295,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $63.14 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The business’s 50 day moving average is $60.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a PEG ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.29.

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.