OFI Invest Asset Management Buys 10,610 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

OFI Invest Asset Management increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 88.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,610 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 10,610 shares during the quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,253,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its holdings in 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 worth $40,000 after buying an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $46,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.33.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $72.83 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $53.63 and a one year high of $76.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $72.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.97 billion, a PE ratio of 34.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.63.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

Williams Companies Company Profile

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.