Ceredex Value Advisors LLC Sells 35,450 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Ceredex Value Advisors LLC lessened its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 404,350 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 35,450 shares during the quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $25,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $740,000 after buying an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $382,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 82.6% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 45,857 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,880,000 after purchasing an additional 20,747 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.86.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.5%

NYSE WMB opened at $73.13 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $67.21 and its 200 day moving average is $62.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $76.87. The stock has a market cap of $89.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.90% and a return on equity of 17.32%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 93.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 10,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.91, for a total value of $757,115.37. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 17,230 shares in the company, valued at $1,290,699.30. The trade was a 36.97% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.24, for a total transaction of $150,480.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 291,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,906,803.16. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,107 shares of company stock worth $3,009,215. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.