Prudential PLC Acquires 400,081 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Prudential PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1,608.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 424,959 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 400,081 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,544,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

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

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE WMB opened at $72.28 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The stock has a market cap of $88.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $73.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $68.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its 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. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.40.

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.