Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Buys 44,849 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Mirae Asset Global Investments boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 24.4%, buying 44,849 shares in Q4 to hold 228,972 shares worth about $13.76 million.
• Several analysts raised price targets and kept bullish ratings—firms like Morgan Stanley, UBS, Jefferies, Stifel and Wells Fargo lifted targets (roughly $78–$90), leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $77.47.
• Williams increased its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (annualized $2.10) for a ~3.0% yield, though the payout ratio is high at about 98.13%.

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 228,972 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 44,849 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings 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 last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% in the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.47.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.75, for a total transaction of $143,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 289,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,747,158.25. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:WMB opened at $71.17 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.56 and a 1-year high of $76.87. The company has a 50-day moving average of $72.93 and a 200 day moving average of $65.35. The firm has a market cap of $86.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 98.13%.

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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