Vega Investment Solutions Invests $10.71 Million in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Vega Investment Solutions bought a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 142,865 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,706,000. Williams Companies makes up about 1.5% of Vega Investment Solutions’ holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% during the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after purchasing an additional 7,884,730 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $500,305,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $354,184,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $329,094,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Three equities research 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 data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $85.60.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.7%

WMB stock opened at $71.02 on Tuesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $56.08 and a twelve month high of $80.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a market capitalization of $86.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.29, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.59. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.20.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The business’s 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, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This trade represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930. Corporate insiders own 0.47% 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.