Sei Investments Co. Grows Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.0% in the first quarter, buying 42,929 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 2,197,700 shares valued at about $159.95 million.
• Institutional ownership of Williams Companies remains high, with 86.44% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors, and several other large investors also recently added to their positions.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on WMB, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $83.56, while the company also reported quarterly EPS of $0.73, beating estimates, and continues to pay a $0.525 quarterly dividend.

Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,197,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 42,929 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.18% of Williams Companies worth $159,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $35,734,000 after acquiring an additional 11,926 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 101,574 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.56.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $75.25 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The firm has a market cap of $91.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm 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%. Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,999,071.44. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

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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