B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires New Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired 69,301 Williams Companies shares worth approximately $5.15 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 86.44% of WMB.
• Analysts maintain a broadly positive view, with an overall “Buy” rating and a consensus price target of $85.60. Recent targets included Jefferies at $85, Barclays at $75, and Morgan Stanley at $103.
• Williams reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, in line with estimates, while revenue reached $3.05 billion—above expectations and up 9.8% year over year. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 3.0% annualized yield.

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 69,301 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $5,152,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 160.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,366,000 after buying an additional 101,574 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.4%

WMB opened at $70.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $73.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $73.13. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $56.08 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Key Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 17,000 shares of company stock worth $1,262,930 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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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