Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Sells 996,968 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 61.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 627,918 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 996,968 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.05% of Williams Companies worth $37,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 8.8% during the third quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,169 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $137,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 11,087 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,510,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chesley Taft & Associates LLC now owns 10,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $660,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gentry Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Gentry Private Wealth LLC now owns 9,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $607,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at $1,938,231.45. This represents a 22.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total transaction of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 51,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,769,012 in the last 90 days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $73.89 on Thursday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $51.58 and a fifty-two week high of $76.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $90.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $70.40 and a 200 day moving average of $63.91.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 98.13%.

Key Headlines Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities initiated coverage with a Buy and an $84 price target, signaling ~13–14% upside from the recent price and providing institutional validation for WMB’s growth prospects. Truist Initiates Coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Surging energy prices (WTI near $90 after geopolitical supply shocks) are supporting the broader energy complex; higher commodity prices and tight markets can boost pipeline throughput and tolling economics over time. Higher Oil Prices Article
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary on growing power demand from data centers highlights a structural growth avenue for Williams (natural gas and power‑adjacent infrastructure needs), which could support longer‑term revenue diversification. CEO on Data Center Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Oklahoma Gov. Stitt named energy executive Alan Armstrong to the U.S. Senate seat — a political development with uncertain direct impact on Williams but potentially relevant for energy/regulatory policy in the region. Alan Armstrong Senate Appointment
• Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors cut multiple near‑term EPS estimates (Q1–Q3 2026 and FY2026/FY2027 lowered), trimming near‑term earnings expectations and creating short‑term pressure on the stock despite some longer‑term upside forecasts. These revisions increase the risk that WMB could miss quarterly consensus or see guidance re‑calibration. (Source: US Capital Advisors / Market commentary)

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.