Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Bought by Sunbelt Securities Inc.

Key Points

• Sunbelt Securities boosted its stake in Williams by 2,906.4% in Q3 to 20,654 shares (worth about $1.31M); institutional investors now own roughly 86.44% of the company.
• Several analysts raised targets (e.g., Citigroup to $81, Wells Fargo to $89), leaving Williams with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a $76.50 average price target.
• Dividend increased to $0.525 quarterly (annual $2.10, ~2.9% yield) even as the latest quarter showed EPS of $0.55 (miss vs. $0.57) and FY2026 guidance of $2.20–$2.38.

Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2,906.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,654 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 19,967 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,308,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. South Plains Financial Inc. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 289.7% during the 2nd quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 608 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the period. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.50.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.3%

NYSE:WMB opened at $72.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 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 stock's 50-day moving average is $69.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.35.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 98.13%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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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