Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Acquired by M&T Bank Corp

Key Points

• M&T Bank increased its stake in Williams Companies by 27.7%, buying 19,031 shares to hold 87,750 shares worth about $5.28 million at quarter-end.
• Williams beat Q1 EPS ( $0.73 vs. $0.63 est.) but missed revenue ($3.03B vs. ~$3.28B) and set FY2026 guidance of $2.20–$2.38 in EPS.
• Wall Street sentiment is broadly positive with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $78.93, while the board raised the quarterly dividend 5% to $0.525 and insiders have sold about 53,369 shares (~$3.93M) recently.

M&T Bank Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,750 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 19,031 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Accordant Advisory Group Inc grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 324.7% during the 4th quarter. Accordant Advisory Group Inc now owns 807 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $49,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Scotiabank raised 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, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $78.93.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 EPS beat — Williams reported $0.73 EPS, topping estimates and showing cash‑generation strength, which supports the dividend and buyback optionality. WMB Beats Q1 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Structural demand tailwinds — Multiple recent pieces highlight rising natural‑gas demand from AI data centers, power markets and LNG, which underpin Williams’s long‑term fee‑based cash flows and project backlog. Williams Eyes 13% Upside on AI Data Center Boom
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend & project execution — Board approved a 5% raise to the quarterly payout and management has placed new pipeline capacity into service, reducing volume risk and supporting steady distributable cash flow. How Williams Is Cashing in on the AI Power Boom
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price‑target lifts — Firms including Stifel and others have raised targets (Stifel to $83) and reiterated buy ratings, supporting sentiment but not introducing new company fundamentals. Benzinga (Stifel note)
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 guidance provided — Management set EPS guidance of $2.20–$2.38; the range overlaps consensus and leaves room for debate on FY momentum, so investors are parsing the midpoint vs. sell‑side models. Q1 2026 Press Release & Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss — Q1 revenue came in below consensus ($3.03B vs. ~$3.27B), which tempers the EPS beat and raises questions about near‑term volume trends. Williams Q1 Revenue vs Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options/insider activity — Elevated put buying and a small SVP sale have drawn attention and likely contributed to short‑term volatility, even though the insider transaction was modest in size. Insider Sale Filing

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,432. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 3.0%

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.86 on Thursday. The firm's 50-day moving average is $73.22 and its 200-day moving average is $66.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $77.41. The company has a market cap of $90.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.39, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.3 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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