Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Grows Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Westfield Capital Management boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 15% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 231,177 shares worth about $13.9 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 86.44% of the company; several large firms, including Norges Bank and Wellington Management, also increased their positions.
• Williams Companies reported mixed quarterly results, beating EPS expectations with $0.73 per share but missing revenue estimates, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, yielding about 2.9%.

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 15.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 231,177 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,112 shares during the quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,896,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4,992.2% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $222,692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 30.4% during the third 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $72.00 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $73.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding WMB? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report).

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.