BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Lowers Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• BI Asset Management cut its stake in Williams Companies by 45% in the fourth quarter, selling 40,380 shares and leaving it with 49,277 shares valued at about $2.96 million.
• Insider selling continued, with SVP Payvand Fazel and COO Larry C. Larsen both trimming their holdings; insiders sold 78,762 shares worth $5.94 million over the last quarter.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $0.73 versus $0.63 expected, and it also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying a 2.9% yield.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S reduced its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 45.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,277 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 40,380 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the period. WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock worth $5,937,632. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $71.60 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. 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 capitalization of $87.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company's fifty day moving average price is $73.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $68.56.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for 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 firm's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

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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