Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Holdings Cut by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.2% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,120,558 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 48,478 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $154,334,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

More Williams Companies News

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street expects Williams’ June 2026 quarter, due August 3, to show year-over-year revenue and earnings growth. The company has an Earnings ESP of 7.95%, indicating that the most accurate analyst estimate is above consensus and raising the possibility of an earnings beat. Williams Companies Draws Earnings Optimism
• Positive Sentiment: Williams announced a quarterly cash dividend, reinforcing the income appeal of its midstream, largely contracted pipeline business. Midstream companies’ durable free-cash-flow generation continues to support dividend growth and share repurchases. Williams Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend Midstream and MLP Free Cash Flow
• Neutral Sentiment: Williams has returned approximately 257% over five years, but the strong run has prompted investors to question whether much of the company’s future growth is already reflected in the share price. The analysis characterizes WMB as fully valued rather than clearly inexpensive. Williams Stock Looks Fully Valued
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain focused on whether Williams’ gas-infrastructure strategy and contracted cash flows can deliver the expected long-term growth. The company is scheduled to release results after the August 3 close, followed by an investor call on August 4. Williams as a Steady Hand as Crude Swings
• Negative Sentiment: Retreating crude oil and natural-gas prices have pressured the broader energy sector, while investors have taken a cautious stance ahead of earnings. Recent insider activity also showed sales without reported purchases, which may add to short-term sentiment concerns. Why Williams Stock Is Down

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $70.24 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $85.80 billion, a PE ratio of 30.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.87 and a 200-day moving average of $72.03. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies 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.