KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Grows Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 502,710 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 16,800 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $31,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,047,025,000 after purchasing an additional 932,998 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $913,840,000 after purchasing an additional 54,902 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. Cibc World Mkts raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.53.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 directly 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5%

Williams Companies stock opened at $63.92 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.12, a PEG ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $48.51 and a 1-year high of $65.55. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $59.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $59.02.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

About Williams Companies

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.