First Trust Advisors LP Has $70.90 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 974,156 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 14,150 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $70,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Main Street Group LTD acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth $26,000. Motiv8 Investments LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Clearstead Trust LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 62.2% in the 4th quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,999,071.44. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.96 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a market cap of $90.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

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.