KBC Group NV Has $8.90 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

KBC Group NV lowered its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 12.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 122,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 17,905 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after buying an additional 883,245 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after buying an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after buying an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after acquiring an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,281,875,000 after acquiring an additional 3,748,126 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $74.50 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $91.01 billion, a PE ratio of 32.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 0.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.31 and its 200-day moving average is $71.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. The trade was a 0.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,182,655. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $83.56.

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.