Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Acquired by Castleark Management LLC

Key Points

• Castleark Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 17.9% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 125,730 shares worth about $7.56 million.
• Insider selling picked up recently, with COO Larry C. Larsen and CFO John Dean Porter both selling shares; insiders have sold 68,500 shares worth about $5.18 million over the past three months.
• Williams Companies beat earnings expectations for the latest quarter, reporting $0.73 EPS versus $0.63 expected, while also declaring a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, implying a 2.9% annualized yield.

Castleark Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,730 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,090 shares during the period. Castleark Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 120,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,216,000 after purchasing an additional 9,656 shares during the last quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 10.4% during the 4th quarter. Federation des caisses Desjardins du Quebec now owns 385,287 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $23,160,000 after purchasing an additional 36,376 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 108.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust now owns 1,396 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares during the last quarter. HRT Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 426.2% during the 4th quarter. HRT Financial LP now owns 124,365 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,475,000 after purchasing an additional 100,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 33.1% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 39,465 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 9,825 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $71.92 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The stock has a market cap of $87.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.85.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $82.40.

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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