4,426,879 Shares in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Acquired by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,426,879 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $329,094,000. Williams Companies accounts for 2.1% of Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after buying an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $354,184,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,281,875,000 after buying an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 295.7% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,446,915 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $268,723,000 after buying an additional 3,323,012 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.60.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $75.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $92.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.38 and its 200-day moving average is $73.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 83.67%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently 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.