Securian Asset Management Inc. Reduces Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Securian Asset Management cut its stake in Williams Companies by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, ending with 33,207 shares worth about $2.0 million.
• Several analysts remain constructive on the stock, with recent target hikes from firms including RBC, Morgan Stanley, and UBS; the consensus rating is still Buy with a target price of $80.27.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share to be paid on June 29, implying a 2.8% yield.

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 43.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,207 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 25,768 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $346,000. Income Insurance Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $217,000. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Triton Financial Group Inc increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Triton Financial Group Inc now owns 16,152 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $971,000 after buying an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC now owns 29,183 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,754,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $80.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 103,369 shares of company stock valued at $7,700,932. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 3.1%

Williams Companies stock opened at $74.16 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one 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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior 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, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Williams Companies Company 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.