Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Boosts Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 13.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 145,812 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,177 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,237,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $72.94 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $63.83 and a 200 day moving average of $61.27. 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 twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $73.04. The firm has a market cap of $89.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.08, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 93.46%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares in the company, valued at $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

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.