Bessemer Group Inc. Purchases 1,664,869 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2,351.5% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,735,669 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,664,869 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $126,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 3,969 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 5.5% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $291,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 568,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $35,734,000 after buying an additional 11,926 shares during the period. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 10,248 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $644,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 160.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 165,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,366,000 after buying an additional 101,574 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $73.34 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $89.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.57. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.32. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were 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 was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total transaction of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.37, for a total transaction of $3,768,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their position. 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 $5,182,655. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $83.56.

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.