41,766 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Bought by North Dakota State Investment Board

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board bought 41,766 shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter, a stake valued at about $2.51 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their holdings, and institutions now own 86.44% of the company’s stock. Meanwhile, insiders have sold shares recently, including two senior vice presidents.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $0.73 versus $0.63 expected, announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend, and analysts currently rate the stock a Buy with a consensus target of $80.47.

North Dakota State Investment Board acquired a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 41,766 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,511,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $35,734,000 after purchasing an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,366,000 after purchasing an additional 101,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 117,869 shares of company stock worth $8,814,067 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $77.55 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $78.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.73 billion, a PE ratio of 34.01, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.93.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $80.47.

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.

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