Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold Off Sen.

Senator (Republican-Oklahoma) recently sold shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB). In a filing disclosed on July 21st, the Senator disclosed that they had sold between $5,000,001 and $25,000,000 in Williams Companies stock on June 24th.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB opened at $74.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.31 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.69. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.82 and a one year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Main Street Group LTD bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 59.4% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 416 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the period. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Finally, Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.56.

About Senator

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.