Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC Acquires 577 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 0.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 473,400 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 577 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 17.4% of Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Walnut Private Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $29,734,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Gotham Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 7,460 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 740 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $510,000. Man Group plc lifted its position in Williams Companies by 189.1% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 223,437 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $12,092,000 after purchasing an additional 146,152 shares during the period. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 138,013 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. TD Cowen began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.86.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 have sold a total of 10,500 shares of company stock valued at $623,115 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $58.84 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $58.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.42. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.51 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $71.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.57, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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 business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter 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. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid 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 of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.