AlphaStar Capital Management LLC Invests $273,000 in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

AlphaStar Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,347 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $273,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $7,838,312,000 after purchasing an additional 807,019 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 worth $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% in 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 lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% in 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. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $57.97 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $59.40. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.48 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The company has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and set a $66.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.62, for a total transaction of $115,240.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 311,645 shares in the company, valued at $17,956,984.90. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.