Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Buys 15,960 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 205,114 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,960 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,883,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Flaharty Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 104.8% during the second quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 469 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of research reports. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, CIBC raised shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.21.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $60.47 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.58 and a 52-week high of $65.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $60.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $59.71. The stock has a market cap of $73.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 0.62.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.51 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.74% and a net margin of 20.61%.The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.09%.

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.