Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lowered its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,666,077 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 130,227 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.22% of Williams Companies worth $194,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $920,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Great Diamond Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Betterment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Betterment LLC now owns 4,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $75.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $92.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.57. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $70.76. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 4th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. 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, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were 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 owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 283,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. This represents a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Williams Companies

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.