Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased 461,473 shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter, valued at approximately $34.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 86.44% of WMB.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with a consensus “Buy” rating and an average price target of $85.60, despite some forecast reductions and a recent “Sell” downgrade from Wall Street Zen.
• Williams reported quarterly revenue of $3.05 billion, up 9.8% year over year, while EPS of $0.50 matched estimates. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525, equal to a 3.0% annualized yield.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 461,473 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $34,306,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $85.60.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE WMB opened at $70.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.59. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $56.08 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $73.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 83.67%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. The trade was a 4.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock worth $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

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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