Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 58.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 179,321 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 66,415 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $13,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts have set an average price target of $83.56, above recent trading levels, suggesting potential upside as investor sentiment remains constructive. Analysts Set Williams Companies Price Target at $83.56
• Positive Sentiment: Williams declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 11. The dividend equates to approximately $2.10 annually and a yield near 3%, reinforcing the stock’s appeal to income-focused investors. Williams Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects higher year-over-year revenue and earnings for the quarter scheduled to be reported August 3. Williams currently has an Earnings ESP of 7.95%, indicating that the most accurate analyst estimate is above the broader consensus and raising the possibility of an earnings beat. Williams Companies Draws Earnings Optimism
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are evaluating whether Williams’ focus on natural-gas infrastructure and contracted cash flows can sustain long-term growth. Broader midstream-sector analysis highlights durable free-cash-flow generation, which supports dividends and potential buybacks. Midstream and MLPs Deliver Durable Free Cash Flow
• Negative Sentiment: After gaining approximately 257% over five years, Williams shares are viewed by some analysts as fully valued or expensive. The recent pullback has increased concern that much of the company’s success and future growth may already be reflected in the stock price, potentially limiting upside without strong earnings or guidance. Williams Stock Looks Fully Valued

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares in the company, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $70.13 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.71 and a 200-day moving average of $72.09. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.76, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 92.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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.