Fund Advisors of America Inc FL Purchases New Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Fund Advisors of America Inc FL opened a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter, buying 20,488 shares worth about $1.23 million. The stock now makes up roughly 1.1% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Williams Companies continues to see strong institutional interest, with several large investors increasing stakes and institutions owning 86.44% of the shares. Meanwhile, company insiders have sold stock recently, including the SVP and COO.
• Analysts remain upbeat on WMB, with multiple firms raising price targets and the consensus rating at Buy with a target of $82.40. The company also beat earnings expectations last quarter, reporting $0.73 EPS, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Fund Advisors of America Inc FL bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 20,488 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $1,232,000. Williams Companies accounts for about 1.1% of Fund Advisors of America Inc FL's portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 worth $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 4,992.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $222,692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631,986 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company'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 transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. 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. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1%

NYSE WMB opened at $73.16 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The company has a market capitalization of $89.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $73.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.27.

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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

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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