Xponance Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Xponance Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 196,196 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,047 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $12,429,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Aspect Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 81.3% during the second quarter. Aspect Partners LLC now owns 582 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,377,154.28. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,107 shares of company stock valued at $2,982,535 over the last ninety days. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $74.75 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $91.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.93, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $65.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.78. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $51.58 and a 52-week high of $75.59.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.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 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, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.36.

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.