Cercano Management LLC Acquires New Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Cercano Management LLC initiated a new position in Williams Companies, buying 23,863 shares worth about $1.43 million in the fourth quarter.
• Institutional interest in the stock remains high, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 86.44% of Williams Companies shares.
• Williams Companies posted better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying a 3.0% annual yield.

Cercano Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,863 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,434,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its holdings in 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. Clearstead Trust LLC boosted 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business'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 directly owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,762 shares of company stock worth $5,937,632. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $70.10 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The stock has a market cap of $85.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.58. The business's 50 day moving average is $73.69 and its 200 day moving average is $68.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 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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