California Public Employees Retirement System Boosts Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,418,765 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 112,050 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.20% of Williams Companies worth $153,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $287,644,000 after acquiring an additional 134,777 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 185.6% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 43,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,728,000 after acquiring an additional 27,987 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.5% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,664,000 after purchasing an additional 16,027 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 75.9% in the third quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,290 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,937,000 after purchasing an additional 54,057 shares during the period. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp increased its position in Williams Companies by 3,344.8% during the third quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 17,465 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after purchasing an additional 16,958 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $76.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. This represents a 8.43% 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 have sold 48,471 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,023. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $73.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $89.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $68.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.06. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $76.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

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

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

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.