Insider Selling: Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) CAO Sells 10,107 Shares of Stock

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) CAO Mary Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE WMB traded up $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $75.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,467,547 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,673,315. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.58 and a 52-week high of $75.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $61.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 93.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.36.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $29,000. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.