Sit Investment Associates Inc. Boosts Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Sit Investment Associates Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 16.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 417,479 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,193 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 51,068 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,070,000 after purchasing an additional 16,599 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,615,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $97,099,000 after buying an additional 85,338 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,255,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,910 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 25.6% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 5,005 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $71.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.54 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $73.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $68.83.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WMB. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $82.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total value of $152,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.