OP Asset Management Ltd Invests $9.01 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 123,848 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $15,689,000 after buying an additional 17,900 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.0% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $125,839,000 after buying an additional 365,546 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $9,912,000 after acquiring an additional 13,438 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,572,000 after acquiring an additional 150,032 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE WMB opened at $77.43 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.59 billion, a PE ratio of 33.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $73.68 and its 200 day moving average is $69.72. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. 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 (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. TD Cowen upped their price objective 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Company 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.