Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Stock Price

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) had its price objective raised by Wells Fargo & Company from $71.00 to $80.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 14.53% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on WMB. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 1st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams Companies from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $71.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.36.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE WMB traded up $1.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $69.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,025,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,957,228. Williams Companies has a one year low of $51.58 and a one year high of $71.58. The company has a market cap of $85.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s fifty day moving average is $62.16 and its 200-day moving average is $60.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.39, for a total transaction of $132,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 293,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,488,452.55. This trade represents a 0.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $747,749,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON increased its stake in Williams Companies by 190.3% in the 2nd quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 12,028,186 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $755,490,000 after acquiring an additional 7,884,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4,992.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 3,704,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,692,000 after acquiring an additional 3,631,986 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $905,583,000 after acquiring an additional 3,089,390 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

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

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue beat and record results — Williams reported Q4 revenue of ~$3.2B (above forecasts) and described 2025 as a year of record results, reinforcing the company’s cash-generation and growth profile. Press Release
• Positive Sentiment: 2026 profit outlook tied to projects — Management said 2026 profit should rise as new pipeline and offshore projects come online, supporting midstream growth and longer-term cash flow visibility. Reuters: Williams sees higher 2026 profit
• Positive Sentiment: Strategic push into fueling AI/data centers — Williams is evaluating upstream gas assets to provide integrated fuel solutions for hyperscalers, which could increase contracted volumes and vertical integration opportunities if pursued. Zacks: explores upstream gas assets
• Neutral Sentiment: FY-2026 guidance roughly in line — Williams set EPS guidance of $2.20–$2.38 (consensus ~2.28), a range that broadly aligns with Street expectations but leaves room for execution risk around project timing. Seeking Alpha summary
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment supportive but stock appears stretched — Multiple buy/overweight ratings and a median price target near $70 (Jefferies $76) support the rally, though technicals show WMB trading above key moving averages. Yahoo: analyst/valuation note
• Negative Sentiment: Small EPS miss and mixed headline — Adjusted Q4 EPS came in about $0.55, a few cents below consensus, which can temper upside despite the revenue beat. Zacks: misses Q4 EPS
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual put buying — Traders bought ~16,500 put options (≈112% above average daily put volume), signaling hedging or near-term bearish positioning that could pressure shares if volatility rises. (Options flow report)
• Negative Sentiment: Recent insider selling — Filings show insiders sold shares over the past six months, which investors may view as a mild negative signal on near-term confidence. Quiver Quant: Q4 summary and insider activity

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.