Choate Investment Advisors Invests $2.09 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Choate Investment Advisors opened a new position in Williams Companies, buying 34,751 shares valued at about $2.09 million in the fourth quarter.
• Williams Companies reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $0.73 EPS versus the $0.63 consensus estimate, even though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to an annualized yield of about 2.7%, while analysts generally maintain a Buy outlook with a consensus target price of $81.00.

Choate Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 34,751 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $2,089,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC now owns 3,459 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $208,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 16,641 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,000,000 after acquiring an additional 1,776 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,977,801 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $599,766,000 after acquiring an additional 228,927 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First National Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 10,134 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 90,869 shares of company stock worth $6,845,227 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.1%

WMB opened at $78.41 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $81.00.

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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