Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stock Holdings Lifted by State Street Corp

Key Points

• State Street Corp increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, adding nearly 1.3 million shares. The firm now owns about 5.57% of the pipeline company, worth roughly $4.09 billion.
• Several other institutional investors also boosted holdings, and institutions collectively own 86.44% of Williams Companies. Meanwhile, insiders have been selling shares, including COO Larry C. Larsen and CFO John Dean Porter, who both cut their ownership stakes.
• Williams Companies reported Q1 EPS of $0.73, beating analyst estimates, and it also declared 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.

State Street Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. State Street Corp owned approximately 5.57% of Williams Companies worth $4,086,344,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $15,689,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in Williams Companies by 21.0% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $125,839,000 after purchasing an additional 365,546 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Williams Companies by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,912,000 after purchasing an additional 13,438 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 57,550 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,459,000 after purchasing an additional 20,740 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company'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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $71.92 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.86 billion, a PE ratio of 31.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.85.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly 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. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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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