MAI Capital Management Raises Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

MAI Capital Management increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 31.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,691 shares during the quarter. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,621,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 7.0% during the third quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 21,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 210.9% during the 3rd quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 30,761 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,949,000 after buying an additional 20,867 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 4,490 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $284,000 after buying an additional 963 shares during the period. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,490 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Lucas Management LP increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.6% in the third quarter. Mount Lucas Management LP now owns 25,587 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after acquiring an additional 900 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0%

WMB stock opened at $74.75 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $75.59. The company has a market capitalization of $91.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $65.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 93.46%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,107 shares of company stock worth $2,982,535 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.