Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.
Williams Companies Trading Down 1.0%
Shares of WMB stock opened at $73.05 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $77.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.24 billion, a PE ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $73.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.83.
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 2.33 EPS for the current year.
Williams Companies Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Truist Financial started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $80.13.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on WMB
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 40.9% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.1% in the second quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.0% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 160.1% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,366,000 after buying an additional 101,574 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Trending Headlines about Williams Companies
Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Multiple brokerages raised price targets and reiterated buy/outperform views (TD Cowen to $87, RBC and Stifel increases), signaling analyst conviction in WMB’s growth runway. Analyst price target coverage
- Positive Sentiment: Q1 results: adjusted EPS $0.73 beat estimates and management raised the annual dividend to $2.10 — both support income-oriented investor demand and validate near-term cash flow. Q1 earnings and market reaction
- Neutral Sentiment: Growth narrative: analysts and press highlight WMB’s positioning to supply power/natural gas for AI data centers, LNG exports and gas switching — a structural demand tailwind but one that requires successful project execution. AI data center coverage
- Neutral Sentiment: Company messaging and press coverage frame Q1 as a “record” quarter and outline a $5.1B investment slate into power innovation (AI/data centers), which could re-rate the stock if executed but adds execution complexity. Record quarter coverage
- Negative Sentiment: Balance-sheet and execution risks: guidance and commentary point to heavy growth capex (~$7B noted in market discussion) and higher leverage (consensus ~4.1x), which could pressure credit metrics and limit optionality. Balance sheet concerns
- Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares this week (SEC filing), and platform data show multiple insider sales in recent months — a potential negative signal for investor sentiment. SEC Form 4 — insider sale
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.
Featured Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
