Russell Investments Group Ltd. Acquires 148,936 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 11.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,507,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 148,936 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $112,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the second quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 134 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% during the second quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,153 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,201,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.33.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $75.04 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $73.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.90. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a market cap of $91.79 billion, a PE ratio of 29.90, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 83.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total transaction of $141,300.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 281,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,863,883.35. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.