Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 348,456 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $20,946,000. Williams Companies comprises about 1.5% of Campbell Newman Asset Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position.
Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%
Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $70.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $65.27. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.56 and a 52-week high of $76.87.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.13%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.47.
Read Our Latest Analysis on WMB
Insider Transactions at Williams Companies
In other Williams Companies news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.
Williams Companies Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Read More
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report).

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.
Before you consider Williams Companies, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Williams Companies wasn't on the list.
While Williams Companies currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Learn the basics of options trading and how to use them to boost returns and manage risk with this free report from MarketBeat. Click the link below to get your free copy.
Get This Free Report