First Trust Advisors LP Has $70.90 Million Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 974,156 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,150 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $70,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $35,734,000 after purchasing an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 160.1% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,366,000 after purchasing an additional 101,574 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.7%

WMB stock opened at $73.96 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $74.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.81.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. 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 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 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.