Advisors Capital Management LLC Purchases 11,766 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 811,198 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,766 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $48,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512 in the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $84.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Truist Financial started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $78.60.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.15 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $76.87. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $73.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.59. 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 has a market cap of $88.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 98.13%.

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.