Key Points
- Senior VP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 WMB shares on March 13 at an average price of $73.15 for proceeds of $211,988.70, trimming his position by 8.36% to 31,766 shares.
- Williams increased its quarterly dividend to $0.525 (annualized $2.10) with an ex-dividend date of March 13 and a yield of ~2.9%, though the payout ratio is high at 98.13%.
- Recent results and outlook: WMB posted $0.55 EPS (missed by $0.02), set FY2026 guidance of $2.20–$2.38, and is viewed positively by analysts (consensus "Moderate Buy" and $76.50 target) with several firms raising price targets.
Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.
Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%
Williams Companies stock opened at $73.68 on Wednesday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $51.58 and a 1-year high of $76.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $68.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $63.28. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Williams Companies Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 98.13%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and increased their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $76.50.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WMB
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams Companies
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,093,848 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $65,751,000 after buying an additional 145,441 shares during the last quarter. Fund Advisors of America Inc FL purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,232,000. World Investment Advisors grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 29.0% during the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 55,577 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,341,000 after acquiring an additional 12,508 shares during the period. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $302,000. Finally, Advisortrust Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $478,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Williams Companies Company Profile
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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