Williams Companies Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Williams Companies saw unusually heavy options activity, with traders buying 150,674 call options on Thursday. That was about 1,457% above its average call volume.
• Company insiders have been selling shares recently, including SVP Glen G. Jasek and COO Larry C. Larsen. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares worth about $5.18 million.
• The stock rose 1.7% to $72.43, while the company also reported better-than-expected quarterly EPS of $0.73. Williams additionally announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, with analysts maintaining a generally bullish outlook.

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Traders bought 150,674 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,457% compared to the average volume of 9,678 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Militia Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,794,000. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. FAS Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 10,111 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the period. DV Trading LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,056 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 74.9% in the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 419,362 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,521,000 after purchasing an additional 179,654 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.7%

WMB traded up $1.18 on Thursday, hitting $72.43. 2,850,395 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,791,461. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $73.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $69.16. The company has a market cap of $88.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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 dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price 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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