Graybill Wealth Management LTD. Sells 24,240 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Graybill Wealth Management LTD. cut its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 23.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 80,734 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 24,240 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises approximately 1.6% of Graybill Wealth Management LTD.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Graybill Wealth Management LTD.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,114,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 830,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $52,618,000 after acquiring an additional 57,943 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $10,673,000. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 5.6% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 4,698 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Caerus Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at about $659,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,906.4% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 20,654 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 19,967 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $73.68 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $76.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $63.28.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. 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 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.13%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Scotiabank raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

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.