Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 33,997 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,844,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 33,997 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $110,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,575,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $923,383,000 after acquiring an additional 158,077 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its position in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Amundi now owns 9,600,016 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $610,369,000 after purchasing an additional 481,082 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.56 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.86 and a 200-day moving average of $63.72. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.