Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Trims Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 593,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 91,007 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $35,659,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Birch Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Birch Capital Management LLC now owns 17,355 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,043,000 after purchasing an additional 2,109 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,824,348 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $109,662,000 after purchasing an additional 133,977 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 102,639 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,170,000 after purchasing an additional 15,197 shares in the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 1,909,009 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $114,751,000 after buying an additional 50,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amplify Investments LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. Amplify Investments LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 1,203 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q1 EPS beat and margin strength — Williams reported $0.73 EPS (above consensus) and strong net margin/ROE, which supports valuation and cash-flow confidence. Williams beats quarterly profit estimates on higher natural gas demand
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend hike — Board approved a 5% increase to the quarterly dividend (to $0.525), signaling management’s confidence in cash flow and boosting income investor demand. Does Williams Dividend Hike Reveal a Deeper Shift
• Positive Sentiment: Project execution / pipeline progress — Management said the first phase of the Aristotle pipeline is complete and other pipeline expansions were placed in service, supporting fee-based revenues and long-term contracted capacity. Williams Q1 2026 Earnings Transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst & thematic support — Recent coverage and sector pieces highlight WMB’s exposure to rising natural‑gas demand and a robust project backlog, helping sentiment around the stock. Williams: Opportunity Rich in Power, Natural Gas
• Neutral Sentiment: FY2026 guidance given (EPS $2.20–$2.38) — Range overlaps consensus; midpoint is slightly conservative versus some estimates, leaving room for upside or downside interpretation. Williams Q1 2026 Press Release & Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders approved expanded equity compensation plans — could support retention and incentives long-term but may be viewed as modestly dilutive by some investors. Shareholders approve expanded equity compensation plans
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue miss — Q1 revenue of ~$3.03B fell short of the roughly $3.27–3.28B consensus, which could temper upside if top-line trends don’t reaccelerate. Q1 Earnings: Key Metrics Versus Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: Options activity and insider selling — Unusual rise in put-option volume (short-term bearish bet) and a small SVP sale (2,000 shares) can create near-term attention and volatility. (Options flow reported May 5; insider filing disclosed May 5.) Insider Sale Filing

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. UBS Group increased their target price on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock 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 report on Wednesday, February 4th. Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Four equities 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $78.60.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $76.09 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $73.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $66.00. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $77.41. The company has a market cap of $92.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.42% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.42 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 given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. This represents a 0.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 53,369 shares of company stock valued at $3,932,432. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.