Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 12,112 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 300,330 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,112 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 0.5% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $19,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,377,154.28. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Mary A. 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 value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,107 shares of company stock valued at $2,982,535 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $74.75 on Friday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $65.35 and a 200 day moving average of $61.78. The firm has a market cap of $91.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $75.59.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

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.