Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stock Position Increased by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,350 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 352,167 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $21,169,000 after buying an additional 3,365 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares in the last quarter. Syon Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 16,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $975,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 108.4% in the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 328,925 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $19,772,000 after buying an additional 171,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 7,910 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $475,000 after buying an additional 1,485 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $72.34 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies’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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 71,398 shares of company stock worth $5,389,824. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. 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. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.