Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases 877,335 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1,814.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 925,677 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 877,335 shares during the quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $55,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 216.8% in the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $71.92 on Monday. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $68.92. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The firm has a market cap of $87.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.54, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its 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 business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The business’s 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. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.