Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Takes Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 55,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,117,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after purchasing an additional 883,245 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after purchasing an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $70.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.08 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $73.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.13. The stock has a market cap of $86.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.58.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly 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 anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.48 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 83.67%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

More Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

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.