Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stock Position Lowered by Payden & Rygel

Payden & Rygel decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 84.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 180,600 shares during the quarter. Payden & Rygel’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,037,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,156 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 27.3% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,390 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 9.9% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,056,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $631,632,000 after buying an additional 903,457 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:WMB opened at $72.94 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $73.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $63.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $61.27.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Mizuho raised Williams Companies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

Williams Companies 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.