Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by Cibc World Market Inc.

Key Points

• Cibc World Market Inc. increased its Williams Companies stake by 55.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 250,571 more shares and bringing its total to 700,646 shares worth about $42.1 million.
• Williams Companies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $0.73 per share, topping estimates by $0.10, though revenue of $3.03 billion came in below expectations and was slightly lower year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, payable June 29, which annualizes to $2.10 per share and implies a 2.9% yield.

Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 55.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 700,646 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 250,571 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $42,116,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,052,537,000 after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $923,383,000 after purchasing an additional 158,077 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $747,749,000. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of WMB opened at $72.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. 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 $88.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm 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%.Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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