Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 81,903 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 20,193 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,912,156 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after buying an additional 3,089,390 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after buying an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.9% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,056,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $631,632,000 after acquiring an additional 903,457 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.64.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley reiterated a Buy and kept a lofty $83 price target, signaling continued bullish conviction from a major sell‑side firm. Morgan Stanley Upheld Buy Rating for The Williams Companies (WMB)
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies raised its price target on WMB to $76, another sign of upward analyst revision that can support the stock over the medium term. Jefferies Raises Williams Companies Price Target to $76
• Positive Sentiment: US Capital Advisors increased its Q1 2026 and FY2027 EPS estimates (Q1 to $0.61; FY2027 to $2.49), which points to improving company earnings expectations and can lift forward valuation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks moved its rating from “strong sell” to “hold” — an upward revision but still cautious, suggesting mixed conviction among smaller analyst shops. Zacks Upgrade Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy‑sector momentum (XLE leadership, weather‑driven natural gas draws) is a macro tailwind for pipeline names like WMB, since higher gas demand supports volumes and tolling revenue — but sector earnings for majors have been mixed, keeping sentiment volatile.
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors also published a piece expressing a negative view on WMB’s FY2026 earnings outlook, which may temper enthusiasm from the estimate bumps and contributes to short‑term selling pressure. US Capital Advisors Negative View of WMB FY2026 Earnings

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total value of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. The trade was a 0.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 8,000 shares of company stock worth $498,700 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $66.96 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $68.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $61.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.37.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.09%.

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.