National Pension Service Sells 720,989 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

National Pension Service cut its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,152,872 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 720,989 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $189,519,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Basepoint Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $50,000. Linscomb Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 190,066 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $11,425,000 after buying an additional 1,162 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.0% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Trust Co. N.A. now owns 114,500 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,883,000 after buying an additional 17,500 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 80.9% in the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 19,912 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,197,000 after buying an additional 8,903 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $466,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce increased their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.4%

NYSE WMB opened at $71.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a PE ratio of 31.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.03. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 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. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 80,762 shares of company stock worth $6,088,112 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% 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.