Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Bought by Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 122.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,527,122 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 839,835 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $111,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $755,490,000 after buying an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 295.7% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,446,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $268,723,000 after acquiring an additional 3,323,012 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $73.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $90.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655 over the last ninety days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $98.00 to $99.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

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.