Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Hsbc Holdings PLC

Key Points

• HSBC Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in Williams Companies by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, selling 79,630 shares and leaving it with 2.27 million shares worth about $136.6 million.
• Insiders also sold stock: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares and SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares, bringing total insider sales last quarter to 68,500 shares valued at about $5.18 million.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 earnings of $0.73 per share, beating estimates, and maintained a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $82.40.

Hsbc Holdings PLC lowered its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,273,211 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 79,630 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned 0.19% of Williams Companies worth $136,580,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Betterment LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $286,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company'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 owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% 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 Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $73.16 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.33. 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 market cap of $89.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note 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. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

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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