Inspire Trust Co. N.A. Purchases 17,500 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Inspire Trust Co. N.A. boosted its Williams Companies stake by 18% in the fourth quarter, buying 17,500 more shares and bringing its total holdings to 114,500 shares worth about $6.88 million.
• Several other institutional investors also increased or initiated positions, and institutions now own 86.44% of Williams Companies’ stock.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including the CFO and an SVP, even as the company posted stronger-than-expected quarterly EPS and maintained a dividend yield of about 2.9%.

Inspire Trust Co. N.A. increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,500 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,500 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 1.1% of Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Inspire Trust Co. N.A.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 80,762 shares of company stock valued at $6,088,112 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $73.10 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $73.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.00. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 (DPR) is 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. Citigroup raised their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Scotiabank raised 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

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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