Wedbush Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Wedbush Securities Inc. cut its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 35.7% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,496 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 11,938 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,362,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Wallace Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the second quarter. Wallace Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,031 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,177 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $514,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, First National Bank of Hutchinson boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. First National Bank of Hutchinson now owns 7,684 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded WMB from “sector perform” to “sector outperform” and raised its price target to $84, signaling stronger conviction and a material upside from recent levels. Scotiabank upgrades Williams Companies (WMB)
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $81 and moved to a “buy” view — another major analyst endorsement that supports further upside and likely helped buying interest. Citigroup raises WMB price target to $81 (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus increased its target to $78 and kept a “buy” rating, adding to the cluster of positive analyst revisions and reinforcing expectations for near-term share appreciation. Stifel raises WMB target to $78 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor/Analyst Day transcript (Seeking Alpha) provided management commentary and strategic detail that investors can use to vet guidance and capital-allocation priorities; such details help underpin analyst re-ratings but are informational rather than immediately catalytic. The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: A Benzinga retrospective on 10‑year returns is informational for long-term investors but unlikely to move shares materially today. If You Invested $100 In Williams Companies…
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results: Williams slightly missed EPS estimates (reported EPS below consensus) though revenue beat; management flagged 2026 growth capital of $6.1–$6.7B and maintenance capex of $850–$950M — higher near-term spending that could pressure free cash flow and put focus on funding and returns. Williams Companies Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Beat (Zacks)

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $72.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.53. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $72.63. The firm has a market cap of $88.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $62.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.80.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $74.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company 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.