Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 133,977 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group raised its stake in Williams by 7.9%, buying 133,977 shares to hold 1,824,348 shares (~$109.66M), roughly 0.15% of the company.
• Williams beat Q1 EPS ($0.73 vs. $0.63) but missed revenue ($3.03B vs. ~ $3.27B); management set FY2026 guidance of $2.20–$2.38 EPS and announced a $0.525 quarterly dividend (2.8% yield).
• Company insiders sold 53,369 shares (~$3.93M) in the past three months, even as multiple analysts raised price targets and the consensus rating remains a Buy with an average target near $78.93.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,824,348 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 133,977 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.15% of Williams Companies worth $109,662,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 324.7% during the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 807 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $49,000 after buying an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, 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. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,432 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $73.86 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.22 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $73.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.08. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $77.41.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company'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. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.93.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 EPS beat — Williams reported $0.73 EPS, topping estimates and showing cash‑generation strength, which supports the dividend and buyback optionality. WMB Beats Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Structural demand tailwinds — Multiple recent pieces highlight rising natural‑gas demand from AI data centers, power markets and LNG, which underpin Williams’s long‑term fee‑based cash flows and project backlog. Williams Eyes 13% Upside on AI Data Center Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend & project execution — Board approved a 5% raise to the quarterly payout and management has placed new pipeline capacity into service, reducing volume risk and supporting steady distributable cash flow. How Williams Is Cashing in on the AI Power Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price‑target lifts — Firms including Stifel and others have raised targets (Stifel to $83) and reiterated buy ratings, supporting sentiment but not introducing new company fundamentals. Benzinga (Stifel note)
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 guidance provided — Management set EPS guidance of $2.20–$2.38; the range overlaps consensus and leaves room for debate on FY momentum, so investors are parsing the midpoint vs. sell‑side models. Q1 2026 Press Release & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss — Q1 revenue came in below consensus ($3.03B vs. ~$3.27B), which tempers the EPS beat and raises questions about near‑term volume trends. Williams Q1 Revenue vs Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options/insider activity — Elevated put buying and a small SVP sale have drawn attention and likely contributed to short‑term volatility, even though the insider transaction was modest in size. Insider Sale Filing

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.

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.