Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Grows Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund sharply increased its stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter, raising holdings by 1,814.9% to 925,677 shares worth about $55.6 million.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share versus $0.63 expected, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below estimates and was slightly lower year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.10 and a dividend yield of 2.9%; meanwhile, analysts remain broadly bullish with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $82.40.

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1,814.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 925,677 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 877,335 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund owned about 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $55,642,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,096,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Betterment LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of WMB opened at $71.92 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $68.92. The firm has a market cap of $87.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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 increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Four equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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