Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 12.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,782,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 737,973 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $429,658,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. LRI Investments LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 8.8% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $702,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the third quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $607,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $154,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $74.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $75.59. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.35 and a 200-day moving average of $61.78. The stock has a market cap of $91.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,107 shares of company stock worth $2,982,535. Insiders own 0.44% 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.