QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 112,502 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,863 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A lifted 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 valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 216.8% in the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. 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. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, 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 this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.09 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.06, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $74.10 and a two-hundred day moving average of $70.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%.The business’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

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.