Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 79,100 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 19.7% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 480,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 79,100 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $30,168,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $335,419,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 34.0% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 11,287,921 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $674,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,861,988 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 275.7% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 2,609,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $155,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.0% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $59.17 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $72.25 billion, a PE ratio of 29.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its 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 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 103.09%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $74.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,319,101.85. The trade was a 1.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies 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.