Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. lessened its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,257 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,888 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,586,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $1,047,025,000 after acquiring an additional 932,998 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $913,840,000 after acquiring an additional 54,902 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $677,623,000 after acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 311,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,956,984.90. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $497,715. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $62.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $75.99 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.46 and a 12 month high of $65.55. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $60.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.25.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on WMB. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $72.00 target price for the company. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 30th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.73.

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.