Insider Selling: Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) COO Sells $917,760.00 in Stock

Posted by George Bondi on May 18th, 2026

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) COO Larry Larsen sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $77.77 on Monday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $78.24. The firm has a market cap of $95.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.61. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $73.23 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.79. 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 (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.10. The firm 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 92.11%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC now owns 302,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,985,000 after purchasing an additional 32,608 shares in the last quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 164.8% in the 1st quarter. Glen Eagle Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 688,368 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,099,000 after buying an additional 126,152 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 8,108 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 834 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castleark Management LLC boosted its position in Williams Companies by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Castleark Management LLC now owns 131,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,590,000 after buying an additional 6,040 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WMB. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, April 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $84.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $80.47.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WMB

About Williams Companies

(Get Free Report)

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.