Stephens Inc. AR Buys 13,438 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Stephens Inc. AR grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 164,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,438 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 47,466 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the business’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 in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 115,369 shares of company stock valued at $8,618,692. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Williams reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with adjusted EPS topping estimates, and management reaffirmed full-year guidance while also raising its dividend by 5%, reinforcing the company’s income appeal. A Look At Williams Companies (WMB) Valuation After Q1 2026 Beat And New Power Project Announcements
• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus has also turned to Williams’ new power-project announcements and CEO comments about a “unique solution” for lowering utility bills, which may be helping the stock’s growth story. Williams CEO outlines ‘unique solution’ for lowering utility bills
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent valuation comparison with Ultrapar Participacoes (UGP) kept WMB in the spotlight, but it was largely a comparative analysis rather than a clear company-specific catalyst. UGP vs. WMB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
• Negative Sentiment: COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares in an SEC-disclosed transaction, which can sometimes pressure sentiment even though the sale represents only a portion of his holdings. SEC Form 4 filing for Larry C. Larsen

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $77.77 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.23 and a 200 day moving average of $66.73. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The stock has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $78.24.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 92.11%.

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.