Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,123,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 108,602 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $71,199,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 24,276 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,525,000 after acquiring an additional 675 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 26.5% in the 2nd quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 1,085 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $68,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 20.1% during the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 9,349 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,562 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $74.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.31 billion, a PE ratio of 34.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $66.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $76.87.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total value of $150,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 291,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,906,803.16. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 43,107 shares of company stock valued at $3,133,015. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.