Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by CI Investments Inc.

CI Investments Inc. decreased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,501,586 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 65,211 shares during the quarter. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $158,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 81.3% during the second quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,107 shares of company stock valued at $2,982,535. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE WMB opened at $76.23 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $76.87. The company has a market capitalization of $93.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $65.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.97.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.86.

About Williams Companies

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.