Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Lowers Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY cut its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 8.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 870,105 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 80,433 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises about 1.7% of Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $63,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after buying an additional 883,245 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.9% during the third 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 during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,018,017,000 after purchasing an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO John Dean Porter sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 196,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,815,254.79. This trade represents a 20.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of 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 sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,177,835 over the last quarter. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $75.87 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07. The business has a fifty day moving average of $73.47 and a 200-day moving average of $69.53. The stock has a market cap of $92.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.58.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 92.11%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.40.

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.