Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary Hausman Sells 10,107 Shares

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% 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 link.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.02. The stock had a trading volume of 2,467,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,673,315. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $75.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The company has a market cap of $91.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.02, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average is $65.02 and its 200-day moving average is $61.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A increased 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during the fourth 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. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on WMB. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Scotiabank upgraded Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

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.