Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Stock Holdings Lifted by Erste Asset Management GmbH

Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 50.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,350 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 8,500 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,426,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 216.8% in the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $72.34 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $55.82 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.37 billion, a PE ratio of 31.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.75.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm’s revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WMB. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,398 shares of company stock worth $5,389,824. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.