Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 370,469 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,543,567 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 370,469 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $92,784,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 216.8% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $72.34 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $73.46 and its 200 day moving average is $68.75. The company has a market cap of $88.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.73, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 71,398 shares of company stock valued at $5,389,824. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.