Congress Asset Management Co. Sells 33,997 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Congress Asset Management Co. decreased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,844,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 33,997 shares during the quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. owned 0.15% of Williams Companies worth $110,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Clear Trail Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $960,000. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 4,992.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,692,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631,986 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $740,000. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,511 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,594,000 after purchasing an additional 3,889 shares during the period. Finally, O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. O Keefe Stevens Advisory Inc. now owns 20,792 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 51,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,012. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.56 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $76.87. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $69.86 and a 200-day moving average of $63.72.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Tudor Pickering raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

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.