Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Position Trimmed by Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.

Key Points

• Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. cut its stake in Williams Companies by 61.1% in Q4, selling 136,419 shares and leaving 86,925 shares valued at $5.225 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, disposing of 53,369 shares worth $3.91 million over the past 90 days (including notable sales by SVP Terrance Lane Wilson and CAO Mary Hausman); insiders now own 0.47% of the stock.
• Several analysts raised ratings and price targets—Jefferies, Wells Fargo, Scotiabank and Morgan Stanley among them—leaving a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average target of $77.47.

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 61.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 86,925 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 136,419 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,225,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 19,006 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,142,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Chesley Taft & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the third quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.75, for a total value of $143,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 289,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,747,158.25. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $77.47.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $70.88 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $86.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.56 and a fifty-two week high of $76.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business's 50-day moving average is $72.84 and its 200-day moving average is $65.27.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.13%.

Williams Companies Company 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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