Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $4.11 Million Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 26.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 20,040 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,107,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $70.97 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.17. 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 twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $86.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.13, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

More Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Dividend supports income appeal: Williams declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equivalent to approximately $2.10 annually and a yield near 3%. The dividend is payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 11. Williams Companies dividend announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst price target remains above the market: Analysts set an average price target of $83.56, implying potential upside and signaling continued confidence in the pipeline operator’s earnings and cash-flow profile. Analysts set Williams Companies price target
• Positive Sentiment: Energy infrastructure demand and sustainability progress: Williams’ 2025 Sustainability Report highlighted improvements in environmental, safety and operational metrics. Management also pointed to rapidly rising energy demand, which could support long-term utilization of the company’s natural-gas pipeline infrastructure. Williams sustainability report
• Neutral Sentiment: Second-quarter expectations remain the key near-term catalyst: Wall Street projections focus on revenue, earnings and operating metrics for the quarter ended June 2026. The reports provide estimates but no reported results, leaving the upcoming earnings release as the main test of whether demand growth is translating into financial performance. Williams Q2 Wall Street projections
• Negative Sentiment: Estimates were trimmed: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts for the third quarter of 2026, first and second quarters of 2027, and fiscal 2028. The FY2028 estimate fell to $2.86 from $2.89, a modest reduction that nevertheless signals slightly softer expected earnings growth. Williams Companies analyst estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Defensive options activity increased: Investors purchased 17,796 put options, 86% above average volume. While this may represent hedging rather than outright bearish positioning, it indicates heightened near-term caution around WMB.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note 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, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 66,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,029,955 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

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.