Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Makes New $16.26 Million Investment in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 218,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,258,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westpac Banking Corp bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth approximately $165,000. TRB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $289,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $4,117,000. Korea Investment CORP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $63,954,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter worth $1,661,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

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

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
• Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $70.71 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $56.08 and a 12-month high of $80.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.49 billion, a PE ratio of 28.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.60.

Williams Companies 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.