Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Rating Lowered to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies to “Sell” from “Hold,” contrasting with the broader analyst consensus of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.62.
• Williams reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, in line with estimates, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded forecasts and rose 9.8% year over year.
• The stock opened at $70.38 after declining 1.9%; insiders sold 18,500 shares worth about $1.4 million over the past three months, while institutional investors own 86.44% of outstanding shares.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

WMB has been the topic of a number of other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $83.62.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.9%

WMB opened at $70.38 on Friday. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $73.10 and a 200-day moving average of $72.54. The stock has a market cap of $86.08 billion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total value of $141,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 281,159 shares in the company, valued at $19,863,883.35. The trade was a 0.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 18,500 shares of company stock valued at $1,402,755. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $354,184,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 295.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,446,915 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $268,723,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,012 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

About Williams Companies

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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