Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Cuts Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. cut its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 7.8% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 207,522 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 17,466 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,146,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 2nd quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 902,124 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $56,662,000 after buying an additional 73,304 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 125.3% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 65,051 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,000 after buying an additional 321,940 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.1% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 284,057 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $17,842,000 after buying an additional 33,011 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Williams Companies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded WMB to “overweight” and raised its price target from $80 to $89 — a clear institutional bullish signal that can attract buying interest. Wells Fargo raises WMB price target
• Positive Sentiment: Large call‑option flow: traders bought ~140,820 WMB call contracts (>> typical daily call volume), suggesting short‑term bullish positioning or speculative bets that can amplify upside volatility.
• Positive Sentiment: Broker support: Raymond James reiterated a buy stance, reinforcing institutional confidence and helping sustain demand from fund managers. Raymond James sticks to buy
• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwind: analysts highlight rising natural‑gas demand from AI/data‑center growth, a structural driver for pipeline throughput and long‑term cash flow improvement. Data center demand boosts natural gas outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Post‑earnings momentum: commentary notes WMB is up roughly 4.6% since the last earnings report; useful context on recent strength but not a stand‑alone catalyst. Can the rally continue?
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: WMB raised its quarterly payout to $0.525 (annualized $2.10), boosting yield and income appeal—but note the payout ratio is high, which limits optionality. MarketBeat WMB overview
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares (~22% reduction of his prior incremental position), a potential signal of profit‑taking or rebalancing that can weigh on near‑term sentiment. SEC filing for insider sale

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $73.35 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a PE ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.06. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. 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. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 48,471 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,023 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

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.