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

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,753,924 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 1,668,706 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.63% of Williams Companies worth $491,225,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth $36,000. South Plains Financial Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 289.7% during the second quarter. South Plains Financial Inc. now owns 608 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 452 shares in the last quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 71.2% in the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at $48,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 directly 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 48,471 shares of company stock worth $3,557,023. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

More Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded WMB to “overweight” and raised its price target from $80 to $89 — a clear institutional bullish signal that can attract buying interest. Wells Fargo raises WMB price target
• Positive Sentiment: Large call‑option flow: traders bought ~140,820 WMB call contracts (>> typical daily call volume), suggesting short‑term bullish positioning or speculative bets that can amplify upside volatility.
• Positive Sentiment: Broker support: Raymond James reiterated a buy stance, reinforcing institutional confidence and helping sustain demand from fund managers. Raymond James sticks to buy
• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwind: analysts highlight rising natural‑gas demand from AI/data‑center growth, a structural driver for pipeline throughput and long‑term cash flow improvement. Data center demand boosts natural gas outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Post‑earnings momentum: commentary notes WMB is up roughly 4.6% since the last earnings report; useful context on recent strength but not a stand‑alone catalyst. Can the rally continue?
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: WMB raised its quarterly payout to $0.525 (annualized $2.10), boosting yield and income appeal—but note the payout ratio is high, which limits optionality. MarketBeat WMB overview
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares (~22% reduction of his prior incremental position), a potential signal of profit‑taking or rebalancing that can weigh on near‑term sentiment. SEC filing for insider sale

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.35 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $51.58 and a 12-month high of $76.87. The firm has a market cap of $89.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. The company’s 50-day moving average is $68.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.06. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued 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 yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $75.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

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.