Nordea Investment Management AB Increases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 21.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 365,546 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB owned 0.17% of Williams Companies worth $125,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 8.8% in the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the third quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $702,000 after buying an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the third quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $660,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% in the third quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $607,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Finally, Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.2%

WMB opened at $72.44 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $69.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.61. The company has a market capitalization of $88.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.85, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $51.58 and a 52 week high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors 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 yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 98.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $76.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. This represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,012 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.