Jennison Associates LLC Raises Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Jennison Associates increased its stake in Williams Companies by 27.2% in Q1, adding 588,778 shares to bring its total to 2,754,878 shares worth about $200.5 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with several firms raising price targets and ratings; the stock currently carries an average “Buy” rating and an average price target of $83.56.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.73 per share, though revenue missed estimates, and it continued paying a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share for a 2.9% yield.

Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 27.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,754,878 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 588,778 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.23% of Williams Companies worth $200,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $755,490,000 after buying an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position 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. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,992.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $222,692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631,986 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 295.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,446,915 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $268,723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,012 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $83.56.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $74.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.57. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. 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 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 92.11%.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.