Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) SVP Todd Rinke Sells 7,364 Shares

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) SVP Todd Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $73.39. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,101,365 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,553,553. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $62.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $76.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Betterment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

More Williams Companies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded WMB to an “overweight” and raised its price target from $80 to $89, implying roughly 21.5% upside from the cited price — a clear bullish analyst signal that can drive buying interest. Wells Fargo raises WMB price target
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option activity: traders bought roughly 140,820 WMB call options (a >1,400% jump vs. typical daily call volume), which suggests short-term bullish positioning or speculative interest that can lift the stock. (source: market activity report)
• Positive Sentiment: Raymond James reaffirmed its positive view by sticking with its buy rating on WMB, adding another institutional vote of confidence that supports further investor demand. Raymond James sticks to buy
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/industry tailwind: analysts note rising natural‑gas demand from AI-driven data-center growth, which benefits pipeline owners like Williams and supports a more constructive longer‑term outlook. Data center demand boosts natural gas outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary: recent writeups (Yahoo/Zacks) note WMB is up ~4.6% since the last earnings release and examine whether that momentum can continue — useful context but not a direct catalyst. Can the rally continue?
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares at an average ~$74.39, reducing his position ~22% — a signal of lockup/portfolio rebalancing or profit-taking that can temper sentiment. SEC filing for insider sale

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.