Global Retirement Partners LLC Buys 20,740 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 56.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 57,550 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,740 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,459,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 150 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 24,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares during the last quarter. Towne Trust Company N.A raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Courier Capital LLC now owns 47,466 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,853,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 33,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective 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. Four equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $81.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. The trade was a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. The trade was a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 117,869 shares of company stock valued at $8,814,067 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $78.41 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $95.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.39, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.61. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $55.82 and a 1-year high of $80.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $73.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 23.39% and a return on equity of 18.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 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.