Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 358,505 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 12,614 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $21,550,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Walser Wealth Management Company A Ltd Liability Co purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $468,000. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $65,000. Cambient Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $342,000. Claris Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,723,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $885,029,000 after purchasing an additional 147,584 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This trade represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total value of $195,375.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. The trade was a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock worth $5,177,835 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen upped their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $73.16 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $73.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.25. The stock has a market cap of $89.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.58. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

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.