Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC trimmed its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 6.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,737 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ritholtz Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 21,450 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,561,000 after buying an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 85.6% in the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 724 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 334 shares during the last quarter. OP Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth approximately $9,014,000. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.0% in the first quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 39,265 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,858,000 after buying an additional 1,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.5% in the first quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,854 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $417,000 after buying an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $78.00 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.82 and a 200-day moving average of $69.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted 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. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.