82,000 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Purchased by Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund

Key Points

• Fjarde AP Fonden, the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund, opened a new position in Williams Companies by buying 82,000 shares in the fourth quarter, worth about $4.93 million.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, though revenue came in below estimates at $3.03 billion and was slightly down year over year. The company also set FY 2026 EPS guidance of 2.200 to 2.380.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, or $2.10 annually, for a 2.9% yield. Meanwhile, analysts remain mostly positive, with an average rating of Buy and an average price target of $82.40.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 82,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $4,929,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $71.60 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $87.47 billion, a PE ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.40.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 over the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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