Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) COO Larry Larsen Sells 12,000 Shares of Stock

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) COO Larry Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly 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. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $77.77 on Friday. 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 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $78.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $73.23 and its 200 day moving average is $66.73. The company has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued 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 company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given 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 of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $80.47.

Institutional Trading of Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,052,537,000 after buying an additional 883,245 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 48,586,299 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,077,942,000 after purchasing an additional 6,668,950 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Williams Companies by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100,164 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Williams Companies

Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Williams reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings, with adjusted EPS topping estimates, and management reaffirmed full-year guidance while also raising its dividend by 5%, reinforcing the company’s income appeal. A Look At Williams Companies (WMB) Valuation After Q1 2026 Beat And New Power Project Announcements
• Positive Sentiment: Investor focus has also turned to Williams’ new power-project announcements and CEO comments about a “unique solution” for lowering utility bills, which may be helping the stock’s growth story. Williams CEO outlines ‘unique solution’ for lowering utility bills
• Neutral Sentiment: A recent valuation comparison with Ultrapar Participacoes (UGP) kept WMB in the spotlight, but it was largely a comparative analysis rather than a clear company-specific catalyst. UGP vs. WMB: Which Stock Is the Better Value Option?
• Negative Sentiment: COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares in an SEC-disclosed transaction, which can sometimes pressure sentiment even though the sale represents only a portion of his holdings. SEC Form 4 filing for Larry C. Larsen

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.