Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $306.86 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Artisan Partners cut its Williams Companies stake by 18.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 1.14 million shares and still holding 5.10 million shares worth about $306.9 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on Williams Companies, with multiple firms raising price targets; the stock carries an average analyst rating of Buy and an average target price of $82.40.
• The company beat earnings estimates in its latest quarter, posting $0.73 EPS versus the $0.63 consensus, while also declaring a $0.525 quarterly dividend that implies a 2.9% annual yield.

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,104,961 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,142,034 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.42% of Williams Companies worth $306,859,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 216.8% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE WMB opened at $71.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $87.17 billion, a PE ratio of 31.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $73.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $69.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 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, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 over the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.