Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 52,613 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Intech Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 28.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 129,819 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 52,613 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Towne Trust Company N.A grew its stake in 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 in the last quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 62.2% in the fourth quarter. Clearstead Trust LLC now owns 485 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. WHI TRUST Co LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Truist Financial started coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, April 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $82.40.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $71.41 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $73.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $68.03. The company has a market cap of $87.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.32, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $55.82 and a fifty-two week high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.The company had revenue of $3.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.35, for a total transaction of $152,700.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 287,159 shares in the company, valued at $21,924,589.65. The trade was a 0.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Payvand Fazel sold 2,898 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.15, for a total value of $211,988.70. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 31,766 shares in the company, valued at $2,323,682.90. The trade was a 8.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 80,762 shares of company stock worth $6,088,112 over the last three months. 0.47% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.