Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Holdings Cut by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Yousif Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 135,535 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,990 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 262 shares during the period. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.33.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE WMB opened at $73.12 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.89 and a twelve month high of $76.87. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $64.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $89.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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 net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.