Williams Companies Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Unusual options activity hit Williams Companies on Monday, with investors buying 16,202 put options, about 43% above the average daily volume.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including COO Larry C. Larsen and SVP Terrance Lane Wilson, while insiders overall sold 68,500 shares worth about $5.18 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts remain bullish on WMB, with a consensus Buy rating and an average price target of $82.40; the stock also recently dipped to $74.73 despite beating quarterly EPS estimates.

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors bought 16,202 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 43% compared to the average daily volume of 11,327 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $760,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.7% in the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 4,220 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $3.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $74.73. 8,976,706 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,012,390. The company's 50 day moving average is $73.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $69.84. The company has a market cap of $91.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business's revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

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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