Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by First Financial Bankshares Inc

First Financial Bankshares Inc lessened its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,440,934 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 19,816 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for approximately 1.7% of First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. First Financial Bankshares Inc’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $86,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. First Command Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 216.8% in the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 491 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WMB. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 target price on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total value of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction 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 owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,924,589.65. This trade represents a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

WMB opened at $71.66 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $68.83. The firm has a market cap of $87.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G 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 (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Williams Companies 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.