Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Gabelli Funds LLC cut its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 17.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 215,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 45,900 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its position in Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $73.96 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $90.34 billion, a PE ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $74.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $71.81. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.56.

Williams Companies 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.