Nicholas Company Inc. Has $2.40 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Nicholas Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 22.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 39,952 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 7,380 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,888 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. ABN AMRO Bank N.V. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $346,000. Income Insurance Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $217,000. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC now owns 4,264 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Triton Financial Group Inc raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.4% in the fourth quarter. Triton Financial Group Inc now owns 16,152 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,158 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $71.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The company has a market capitalization of $87.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.53, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $73.22 and a 200 day moving average of $66.16. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $55.82 and a 12 month high of $77.41.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies’s revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.32 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $80.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.27.

Key Williams Companies News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms turned more bullish on Williams Companies, with TD Cowen raising its price target to $87 and RBC lifting its target to $83, while other recent notes reiterated buy/outperform views. That suggests analysts still see meaningful upside in WMB’s growth and cash-flow profile. Analyst price target coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Q1 earnings beat expectations, with adjusted EPS of $0.73 versus estimates of $0.63, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.525 per share. For income-focused investors, the stronger payout and earnings outperformance help support sentiment. Q1 earnings and market reaction
• Positive Sentiment: Market commentary continues to highlight Williams’ exposure to natural gas demand from data centers and AI infrastructure, which could provide a long-term growth tailwind if the company executes well on its project pipeline. AI power boom article
• Neutral Sentiment: Williams continues to be described as a company in “record quarter” mode, with a large investment slate aimed at power innovation and data-center demand. That could support a higher valuation over time, but it depends on successful execution. Record quarter coverage
• Negative Sentiment: CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares in a recent SEC filing, and the sale follows a pattern of insider selling at WMB over the past several months. Insider sales can weigh on sentiment, even if they do not necessarily signal a change in fundamentals. SEC Form 4 — insider sale
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also watching leverage and capex pressure, as market discussion points to higher debt and a sizable growth spending plan that could constrain financial flexibility if project returns take time to materialize. Balance sheet concerns

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total transaction of $547,807.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 26,055 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,938,231.45. This trade represents a 22.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 287,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 103,369 shares of company stock valued at $7,700,932 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.