Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Purchases 248,455 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 38.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 894,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 248,455 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $56,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at about $765,164,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 190.3% in the second quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $755,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after acquiring an additional 6,668,950 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 27.3% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089,390 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 30.4% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,073,602 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $574,856,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $73.35 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $68.29 and its 200 day moving average is $63.06. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $51.58 and a 12 month high of $76.87. The company has a market capitalization of $89.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.63. 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 (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 98.13%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 26,055 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. The trade was a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 27,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.92, for a total transaction of $1,968,840.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 293,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,377,154.28. The trade was a 8.43% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,471 shares of company stock valued at $3,557,023. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo upgraded WMB to “overweight” and raised its price target from $80 to $89 — a clear institutional bullish signal that can attract buying interest. Wells Fargo raises WMB price target
• Positive Sentiment: Large call‑option flow: traders bought ~140,820 WMB call contracts (>> typical daily call volume), suggesting short‑term bullish positioning or speculative bets that can amplify upside volatility.
• Positive Sentiment: Broker support: Raymond James reiterated a buy stance, reinforcing institutional confidence and helping sustain demand from fund managers. Raymond James sticks to buy
• Positive Sentiment: Industry tailwind: analysts highlight rising natural‑gas demand from AI/data‑center growth, a structural driver for pipeline throughput and long‑term cash flow improvement. Data center demand boosts natural gas outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Post‑earnings momentum: commentary notes WMB is up roughly 4.6% since the last earnings report; useful context on recent strength but not a stand‑alone catalyst. Can the rally continue?
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: WMB raised its quarterly payout to $0.525 (annualized $2.10), boosting yield and income appeal—but note the payout ratio is high, which limits optionality. MarketBeat WMB overview
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares (~22% reduction of his prior incremental position), a potential signal of profit‑taking or rebalancing that can weigh on near‑term sentiment. SEC filing for insider sale

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank raised Williams Companies from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $66.00 to $84.00 in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $76.50.

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.