Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Brendel Financial Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Brendel Financial Advisors cut its stake in Williams by 88.4%, selling 33,953 shares in Q4 and leaving the firm with 4,469 shares worth about $269,000.
• Williams reported Q4 EPS of $0.55 (missing estimates by $0.02) but beat revenue expectations at $3.20 billion, and set FY2026 guidance of 2.200–2.380 EPS versus analyst expectations of 2.08.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (annualized $2.10) for a ~2.9% yield, but the payout ratio is high at about 98.13%, which could limit future dividend flexibility.

Brendel Financial Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 88.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,469 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 33,953 shares during the quarter. Brendel Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 3.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $644,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 160.1% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $10,366,000 after acquiring an additional 101,574 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $71.45 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $72.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $65.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.39, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.56 and a 52 week high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $77.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512. 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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