Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 883,245 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Vanguard increased its stake in Williams by 0.7%, buying 883,245 shares and now owning 133,963,343 shares—about 10.97% of the company, valued at roughly $8.05 billion.
• Williams reported Q results of $0.55 EPS (missing the $0.57 consensus) with revenue of $3.20 billion (beating $3.10 billion) and set FY2026 guidance of 2.20–2.38 EPS versus analysts' average forecast of 2.41.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (a $2.10 annualized payout, ~2.9% yield), though the dividend payout ratio is high at 98.13%.

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.97% of Williams Companies worth $8,052,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,077,942,000 after buying an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares during the period. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $755,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 9,600,016 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $610,369,000 after purchasing an additional 481,082 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 30.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,073,602 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $574,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,526 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.15 on Monday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $73.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.13%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.60.

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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