Assetmark Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 233.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 107,729 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $9,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on WMB. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday. Two research 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. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.21.

Williams Companies News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank upgraded WMB from “sector perform” to “sector outperform” and raised its price target to $84, signaling stronger conviction and a material upside from recent levels. Scotiabank upgrades Williams Companies (WMB)
• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target to $81 and moved to a “buy” view — another major analyst endorsement that supports further upside and likely helped buying interest. Citigroup raises WMB price target to $81 (Benzinga)
• Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus increased its target to $78 and kept a “buy” rating, adding to the cluster of positive analyst revisions and reinforcing expectations for near-term share appreciation. Stifel raises WMB target to $78 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor/Analyst Day transcript (Seeking Alpha) provided management commentary and strategic detail that investors can use to vet guidance and capital-allocation priorities; such details help underpin analyst re-ratings but are informational rather than immediately catalytic. The Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) Analyst/Investor Day Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: A Benzinga retrospective on 10‑year returns is informational for long-term investors but unlikely to move shares materially today. If You Invested $100 In Williams Companies…
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results: Williams slightly missed EPS estimates (reported EPS below consensus) though revenue beat; management flagged 2026 growth capital of $6.1–$6.7B and maintenance capex of $850–$950M — higher near-term spending that could pressure free cash flow and put focus on funding and returns. Williams Companies Q4 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Beat (Zacks)

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,488,452.55. This represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.6%

Williams Companies stock opened at $72.29 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $62.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $60.82. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $51.58 and a twelve month high of $72.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. 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 (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.46%.

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.