Founders Financial Securities LLC Raises Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 11,570 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.4%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $71.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $68.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 80,762 shares of company stock worth $6,088,112 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies 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.