Freemont Management S.A. Grows Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Freemont Management S.A. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 197.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 41,600 shares valued at about $2.5 million.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, though revenue came in below estimates at $3.03 billion. The company also issued FY 2026 guidance of 2.20 to 2.38 EPS.
• Wall Street remains constructive on the stock, with several analysts raising price targets and the consensus rating at “Buy”; the average target is $80.47 versus a recent share price around $75.72.

Freemont Management S.A. raised its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 197.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 41,600 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,600 shares during the quarter. Freemont Management S.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 9,600,016 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $610,369,000 after purchasing an additional 481,082 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $80.47.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $75.72 on Thursday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $73.15 and a 200 day moving average of $66.51. The firm has a market cap of $92.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.21, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $77.41.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during 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%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 103,369 shares of company stock worth $7,700,932 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

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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