Rafferty Asset Management LLC Has $15.32 Million Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Rafferty Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 241,762 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 16,593 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,316,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth $32,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $35,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,107 shares of company stock worth $2,982,535. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $74.75 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $75.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $65.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.81.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Scotiabank raised Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.36.

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.