Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S

Key Points

• BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in Williams Companies by 149.6% in the first quarter, ending with 122,988 shares valued at about $8.95 million.
• Insider selling was notable, with CFO John Dean Porter and SVP Glen G. Jasek both selling shares in recent transactions; insiders sold 68,500 shares total over the last 90 days.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.73 per share for the quarter, and analysts remain generally bullish, with an average Buy rating and price target of $82.40.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 149.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 122,988 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 73,711 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,951,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the 4th 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 boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after purchasing 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 Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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 the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was 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 ninety days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.16 on Monday. 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 $89.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.33.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

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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