Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Bought by Moore Capital Management LP

Key Points

• Moore Capital Management boosted its Williams Companies stake by 285.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 444,566 shares valued at about $26.7 million. Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding 86.44% of the stock.
• Williams Companies reported strong quarterly earnings, posting $0.73 EPS versus the $0.63 consensus estimate, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations. The company also reiterated FY2026 guidance of 2.200–2.380 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to $2.10 annually and a 2.9% yield. Analysts remain mostly bullish, with an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Moore Capital Management LP raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 285.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 444,566 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 329,170 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $26,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,086,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,991 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,768,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,018,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $71.26 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $87.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.16.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies 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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