Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by TD Asset Management Inc

Key Points

• TD Asset Management Inc. cut its Williams Companies stake by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 59,774 shares and leaving it with 632,022 shares worth about $38.0 million.
• Wall Street remains bullish on WMB, with analysts setting a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.40 after several firms raised targets and one upgrade to strong-buy.
• Williams Companies beat earnings estimates in its latest quarter, reporting $0.73 EPS versus $0.63 expected, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, yielding about 2.9%.

TD Asset Management Inc reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 632,022 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 59,774 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc owned approximately 0.05% of Williams Companies worth $37,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an "outperformer" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% 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, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.6%

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.00 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $87.95 billion, a PE ratio of 31.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.42.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

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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