Hartford Funds Management Co LLC Acquires 7,033 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 65.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,774 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,033 shares during the quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,126,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540,556 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $287,644,000 after purchasing an additional 134,777 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors grew its position in Williams Companies by 185.6% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 43,069 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,728,000 after buying an additional 27,987 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 9.5% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 184,123 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,664,000 after acquiring an additional 16,027 shares during the period. Compass Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 75.9% in the 3rd quarter. Compass Wealth Management LLC now owns 125,290 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,937,000 after acquiring an additional 54,057 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,344.8% in the 3rd quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp now owns 17,465 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 16,958 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,290,699.30. This trade represents a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total value of $1,968,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,377,154.28. This trade represents a 8.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 43,107 shares of company stock worth $3,133,015 over the last quarter. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of WMB opened at $74.16 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.65, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $76.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $66.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $62.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.53 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 98.13%.

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.