Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC Sells 14,907 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its stake in Williams Companies (WMB) by 14% in Q3, selling 14,907 shares and now holding 91,415 shares valued at about $5.79 million.
• Company insiders have sold a total of 43,107 shares worth $3.13 million in the past 90 days, including CAO Mary A. Hausman (10,107 shares) and SVP Terrance Lane Wilson (2,000 shares), with insiders now owning 0.44% of the stock.
• Several analysts raised price targets and ratings (e.g., Morgan Stanley to $90, UBS to $89), leaving a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $75.86, while Williams increased its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (annual $2.10, ~2.8% yield).

Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 91,415 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 14,907 shares during the quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $154,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,107 shares of company stock worth $3,133,015. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $75.86.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Williams Companies stock opened at $74.16 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $62.44.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.46%.

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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