Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Private Advisor Group LLC

Private Advisor Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 118,369 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 10,106 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,499,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth about $35,000. South Plains Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 289.7% in the second quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 608 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 99.7% during the 2nd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.64 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock has a market cap of $89.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $68.04 and a 200-day moving average of $62.86.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.86.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 48,471 shares of company stock worth $3,557,023. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.