Gabelli Funds LLC Acquires 17,900 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,900 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 261,000 shares worth about $15.7 million.
• Several other hedge funds also raised their positions, and institutional investors now own 86.44% of Williams Companies' stock, showing heavy institutional interest in the pipeline operator.
• Williams Companies reported quarterly EPS of $0.73, beating estimates, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share to be paid June 29, implying a 2.7% yield.

Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 17,900 shares during the quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,689,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,366,000 after buying an additional 101,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

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 on Friday, May 1st. The stock was 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 owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 117,869 shares of company stock worth $8,814,067. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.47.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:WMB opened at $77.55 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $78.31. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $73.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $66.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for 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%.The business's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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