Sit Investment Associates Inc. Acquires 58,193 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Sit Investment Associates boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, buying 58,193 additional shares and bringing its total to 417,479 shares worth about $25.1 million.
• Institutional interest in WMB remains strong, with 86.44% of the stock owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several firms also increased positions recently, while analysts largely maintain a Buy view with a consensus target price of $82.40.
• Williams Companies reported quarterly EPS of $0.73, beating estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share to be paid June 29. However, insiders have been selling shares recently, including two SVPs in May.

Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 417,479 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 58,193 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% during the 2nd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 160.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. TD Cowen increased their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $73.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.25.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

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.

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