MUFG Securities EMEA plc Has $13.11 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc sharply increased its stake in Williams Companies by 833.2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 218,120 shares valued at about $13.1 million.
• Williams Companies continues to draw strong institutional interest, with hedge funds and asset managers owning 86.44% of the stock; several firms, including Vanguard, Wellington, and Norges Bank, recently added positions.
• The company reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share payable June 29, for an annualized yield of 2.9%.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 833.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 218,120 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 194,746 shares during the quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,052,537,000 after buying an additional 883,245 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,077,942,000 after buying an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $747,749,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised 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 acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $71.41 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.08. The stock has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 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 analysts' expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock worth $5,937,632. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.

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.