Williams Companies Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:WMB)

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) saw some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 16,202 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 43% compared to the typical volume of 11,327 put options.

Williams Companies Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $3.19 on Monday, hitting $74.73. 8,976,706 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,012,390. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $69.84. The company has a market cap of $91.28 billion, a PE ratio of 32.78, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business 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 firm’s revenue 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,086,344,000 after buying an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after buying an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial began coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. 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 report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.40.

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.