Rational Advisors Inc. Buys 12,957 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Rational Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 356.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,594 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,957 shares during the quarter. Rational Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Great Diamond Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,096,000 after buying an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,479,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 47,466 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,853,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 33,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Argus raised its price target on Williams Companies, highlighting the company’s large role in U.S. natural gas infrastructure and its position among the better-liked energy stocks, which can reinforce investor confidence. The Williams Companies (WMB) Price Target Raised by $2 at Argus
• Positive Sentiment: Broader midstream and gas-infrastructure coverage has been constructive, citing robust gas backlogs, LNG export growth, and rising power demand from data centers as tailwinds for natural-gas-focused pipeline companies like WMB. Midstream: Robust Gas Backlogs Drive Growth Visibility
• Positive Sentiment: A Zacks article compared WMB favorably as a value stock versus peer Ultrapar, which may help keep valuation-focused investors interested. UGP or WMB: Which Is the Better Value Stock Right Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: The company expanded funding flexibility by adding new credit lines and filing a shelf registration, which gives Williams more financial optionality but also raises the possibility of future share issuance. Williams Companies Expands Funding Options With New Credit Lines And Equity Shelf
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors trimmed earnings estimates for several future periods, including FY2027 and FY2028, which can pressure sentiment if investors view the cuts as a sign of slower profit growth ahead. Williams Companies research notes and estimates

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 78,762 shares of company stock valued at $5,937,632 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $71.23 on Wednesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $68.15. The company has a market cap of $87.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.24, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

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.