Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Increases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 32.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 139,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 33,821 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 104.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 297,545 shares in the company, valued at $18,418,035.50. This represents a 0.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4%

Williams Companies stock opened at $60.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $73.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.69.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 103.09%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Zacks Research cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.29.

Williams Companies 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.