Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 430,421 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 59,358 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $507,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 13,994 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 60,239 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,621,000 after buying an additional 11,570 shares in the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its stake in Williams Companies by 833.2% during the 4th quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 218,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $13,111,000 after buying an additional 194,746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Texas Yale Capital Corp. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 73,217 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,401,000 after acquiring an additional 1,315 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $70.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $73.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.58. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 92.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WMB. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.