Jennison Associates LLC Reduces Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,512,768 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 335,206 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned 0.29% of Williams Companies worth $222,534,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its position in Williams Companies by 105.6% in the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,258,552 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $79,050,000 after acquiring an additional 646,488 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 185.6% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 43,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 27,987 shares during the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 153.4% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 831 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 503 shares during the period. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1,238.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 365,350 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $22,948,000 after acquiring an additional 338,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Avenue Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,208,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $64.97 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $79.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.49, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day moving average of $60.46 and a 200 day moving average of $59.78. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $65.55.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm earned $0.43 EPS. The business’s revenue 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $61.90, for a total transaction of $123,800.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 297,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,418,035.50. This trade represents a 0.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Zacks Research downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, October 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.29.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc (NYSE: WMB) is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.