Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Williams Companies Call Options (NYSE:WMB)

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders acquired 227,655 call options on the company. This is an increase of 1,865% compared to the typical daily volume of 11,587 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Capital One Financial initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.35.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $72.77. The stock had a trading volume of 3,588,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,051,533. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $89.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64. Williams Companies has a 1-year low of $56.19 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $72.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.11.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.41 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th were given a $0.5250 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 11th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 83.67%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,401,430 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 56.3% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 386 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SHP Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Company Profile

Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company focused primarily on the gathering, processing, storage and transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Through its extensive network of pipelines and related facilities, the company connects major U.S. producing regions with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.

Williams’ principal assets include the Transco interstate natural gas pipeline, which serves markets along the U.S. East Coast, as well as gathering and processing operations in regions such as the Appalachian Basin, the Rocky Mountains and the Western United States.