Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 1,200 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 64,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,045,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the first quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Cibc World Mkts upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $65.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total value of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,956,984.90. This represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $63.49 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.44 and a 200 day moving average of $59.05. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $48.71 and a 12 month high of $65.55. The company has a market capitalization of $77.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.50%.

Williams Companies Company 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.