SailingStone Capital Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

SailingStone Capital Partners LLC decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 215,914 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 9,865 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 3.1% of SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. SailingStone Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,051,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 5.5% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $35,734,000 after purchasing an additional 11,926 shares in the last quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 160.1% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,366,000 after acquiring an additional 101,574 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.56, for a total transaction of $151,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 264,259 shares in the company, valued at $19,967,410.04. The trade was a 0.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $75.24 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $56.19 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $73.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $73.56. The stock has a market cap of $92.03 billion, a PE ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Williams Companies Profile

Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company focused primarily on gathering, processing, transporting and storing natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company provides the infrastructure and related services that connect natural gas supplies with utilities, power generators, industrial customers, liquefied natural gas facilities and other markets.

Williams operates a large network of interstate and regional natural gas pipelines, gathering systems, processing facilities and storage assets across the United States.