Fractal Investments LLC Purchases 222,500 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Fractal Investments LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 37.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 814,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 222,500 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for 6.8% of Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Fractal Investments LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $48,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Towne Trust Company N.A boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A now owns 431 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 71.2% in the third quarter. OLD Second National Bank of Aurora now owns 630 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter worth approximately $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $71.17 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $55.56 and a one year high of $76.87. The company has a market cap of $86.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.26, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.53. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $72.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $65.34.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The pipeline company reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.57 by ($0.02). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.32% and a net margin of 21.90%.The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 98.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Williams Companies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total transaction of $211,988.70. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 31,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,323,682.90. This trade represents a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Todd J. Rinke sold 7,364 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.39, for a total value of $547,807.96. Following 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 53,369 shares of company stock worth $3,912,512 in the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.