Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Raises Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management increased its Williams Companies stake by 26.1% in the first quarter, ending with 792,077 shares valued at about $57.6 million. Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors holding most of the stock.
• Williams Companies’ insiders have been selling shares recently, including SVP Glen G. Jasek and COO Larry C. Larsen. Over the last three months, insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares worth about $5.18 million.
• The company beat earnings expectations for the quarter, reporting $0.73 EPS versus the $0.63 estimate, and it also raised/updated dividend and guidance details. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $82.40.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 26.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 792,077 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 164,159 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $57,647,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $15,689,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $125,839,000 after purchasing an additional 365,546 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Inc. AR grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,912,000 after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $31,572,000 after purchasing an additional 150,032 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE WMB opened at $77.43 on Friday. 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 cap of $94.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.96, a PEG ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.72. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Williams Companies 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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