Sei Investments Co. Increases Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.0% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,197,700 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 42,929 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $159,951,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 141 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 15,309 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $920,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,646 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $760,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 34,870 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,096,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.7% during the first quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 4,220 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total value of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 283,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of WMB stock opened at $75.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $91.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.00, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 0.57. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $55.82 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperformer” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Barclays raised their target price on Williams Companies from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.56.

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.