Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stake Raised by Focus Partners Wealth

Key Points

• Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Williams Companies by 114.7% in Q4, buying 820,489 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,535,944 shares valued at about $94.5 million.
• Williams Companies reported stronger-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter, posting EPS of $0.73 versus the $0.63 consensus, though revenue came in below estimates at $3.03 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share payable June 29, and analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $82.40.

Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 114.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,535,944 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 820,489 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth owned 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $94,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 216.8% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $71.92 on Monday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $73.44 and its 200-day moving average is $68.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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%.Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an "outperformer" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 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.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.40.

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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