Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 733,339 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Assenagon Asset Management cut its Williams Companies stake by 92.6%, selling 733,339 shares and retaining 58,738 shares valued at approximately $4.37 million. Institutional investors still own 86.44% of WMB.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a consensus “Buy” rating and average price target of $84.12; Truist recently raised its target to $88 from $84.
• Williams reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, in line with estimates, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded forecasts and rose 9.8% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525, equivalent to a 2.8% annual yield.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 92.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,738 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 733,339 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 295.7% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,446,915 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,723,000 after buying an additional 3,323,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $84.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total transaction of $141,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 281,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,863,883.35. The trade was a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 6,500 shares of company stock valued at $484,995 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.9%

WMB stock opened at $73.70 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.43. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 83.67%.

Key Williams Companies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: RBC Capital initiated or reiterated a Buy rating on Williams, signaling expectations for further share-price appreciation. Williams Co (WMB) Receives a Buy from RBC Capital
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial raised its price target for WMB to $88 from $84 and maintained a Buy rating, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. Benzinga Williams price target report
• Positive Sentiment: Williams’ planned acquisition of Momentum Midstream, valued at up to approximately $5.5 billion, and its partnership with Blackstone are expected to expand pipeline infrastructure, earnings and long-term cash flow. The company is also pursuing growth opportunities tied to power demand. Williams Q2 2026 earnings call transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Recent results provided support for the bullish view: Williams met quarterly EPS expectations at $0.50, exceeded revenue estimates with $3.05 billion, and increased revenue year over year. Fresh attention to natural-gas flows may also benefit the company’s extensive midstream network. Natural gas flows and Williams
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks identified WMB as one of the pipeline stocks positioned to withstand industry headwinds, although conservative upstream capital spending creates uncertainty for sector-wide volume growth. Pipeline stocks facing industry headwinds
• Negative Sentiment: Despite a roughly 2.9-times five-year return, valuation measures suggest WMB trades at a premium, limiting its appeal as a bargain and raising the risk that much of the positive outlook is already reflected in the stock. Williams stock trades at a premium

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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