Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Holdings Lowered by Geode Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Geode Capital Management reduced its Williams Companies stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, but still held 28.6 million shares worth about $1.71 billion, or roughly 2.34% of the company.
• Williams reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below analyst estimates and was slightly down year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying an annualized payout of $2.10 and a dividend yield of 2.9%; analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Buy with an average target price of $82.40.

Geode Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,628,767 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 518,441 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.34% of Williams Companies worth $1,713,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $73.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $89.30 billion, a PE ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.61. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $73.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $68.00. 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 twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last 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, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Four equities research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the 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 owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 80,762 shares of company stock worth $6,088,112 in the last 90 days. 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.

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.