Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Upgraded at The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams Companies from "neutral" to Buy with an $82 price target, implying roughly a 15.2% upside from the prior close.
• Other brokers have also raised ratings and targets—Truist initiated coverage at Buy ($84) while Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo lifted targets to $90 and $89—resulting in a MarketBeat consensus of Buy with an average target of $78.60.
• Williams opened at $71.17, with a market cap of ~$86.9B and a PE of 33.3; management's FY2026 EPS guidance is 2.20–2.38 (analysts average ~2.08), and insiders sold about $3.9M of stock last quarter (insiders own 0.47%).

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) was upgraded by stock analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $82.00 price objective on the pipeline company's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective points to a potential upside of 15.22% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $78.60.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE WMB opened at $71.17 on Monday. Williams Companies has a one year low of $55.56 and a one year high of $76.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $65.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.94 billion, a PE ratio of 33.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,912,512 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC increased its position 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 worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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