Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Purchased by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,286,336 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,172,186 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $144,840,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Williams Companies by 22.5% during the third quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 207,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,120,000 after buying an additional 37,996 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 67,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,249,000 after acquiring an additional 951 shares during the period. Moore Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,310,000. L2 Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 6,720 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $426,000 after acquiring an additional 1,266 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 113,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,291 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,906,803.16. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 48,471 shares of company stock worth $3,557,023 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $73.88 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $68.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its 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). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid 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 yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 98.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Scotiabank raised Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.50.

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.