Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders purchased 151,361 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 997% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,797 call options.

Williams Companies Stock Up 2.7%

NYSE WMB traded up $1.91 on Tuesday, reaching $73.66. The stock had a trading volume of 5,106,244 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,120,013. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $72.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $71.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $56.19 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $90.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.85, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 262,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,794,273.15. This represents a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,401,430. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $2,504,000. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $15,277,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $77,998,000. Cynosure Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $647,000. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 688.5% during the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 479,126 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,722,000 after acquiring an additional 418,365 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Barclays initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $82.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $86.06.

About Williams Companies

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.