Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 11.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 79,517 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 10,675 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 71.2% during the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $48,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.5%

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.45 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $76.87. The stock has a market cap of $88.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $71.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.28.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 98.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock worth $3,769,012 in the last 90 days. 0.47% of the stock is owned by company 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.