Aberdeen Group plc Raises Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Aberdeen Group plc increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,763,084 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 64,026 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $105,979,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% in the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $72.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $76.87. The company has a market cap of $87.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 a total of 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Truist Financial initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.07.

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.