ABN Amro Investment Solutions Buys 8,812 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

ABN Amro Investment Solutions grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,812 shares during the period. ABN Amro Investment Solutions’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,093,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.56.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $74.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.31 and its 200 day moving average is $71.69.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

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.