Norges Bank Acquires Shares of 12,439,677 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Norges Bank disclosed a new stake in Williams Companies, buying 12,439,677 shares valued at about $747.7 million, giving it roughly 1.02% ownership of the pipeline operator.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations and was slightly down year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share payable June 29, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $82.40.

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 12,439,677 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $747,749,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.02% of Williams Companies as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $35,734,000 after acquiring an additional 11,926 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,366,000 after acquiring an additional 101,574 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.4%

WMB opened at $71.41 on Friday. The firm 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 0.61. 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.77 and a 200 day moving average of $68.03.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 80,762 shares of company stock valued at $6,088,112 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

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.

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