Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $2.42 Million Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 43.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 40,172 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 30,452 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,415,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 99.7% during the second quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 767 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 90,869 shares of company stock valued at $6,845,227 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $76.37 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $73.80 and a 200-day moving average of $67.79. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $55.82 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The company has a market capitalization of $93.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

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.