Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 111,133 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,262,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Evolve Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $912,000. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $16,258,000. Westpac Banking Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $165,000. TRB Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $289,000. Finally, Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth about $4,117,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.
Key Williams Companies News
Here are the key news stories impacting Williams Companies this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target for Williams Companies to $103, signaling substantial potential upside from recent trading levels and providing a constructive counterpoint to the earnings estimate cuts. Morgan Stanley Increases Williams Companies Price Target to $103
- Neutral Sentiment: The company’s latest reported quarter was solid: Williams earned $0.50 per share, matching consensus, while revenue of $3.05 billion exceeded expectations and increased 9.8% year over year. Its fee-based pipeline operations provide relatively stable cash flows.
- Negative Sentiment: US Capital Advisors lowered its EPS forecasts across several periods, including fourth-quarter 2026 EPS to $0.57 from $0.60, first-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.55 from $0.59, second-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.40 from $0.48, and third-quarter 2027 EPS to $0.50 from $0.55.
- Negative Sentiment: The firm also reduced its full-year 2027 EPS estimate to $2.07 from $2.28 and its 2028 forecast to $2.67 from $2.86. These revisions suggest analysts see weaker near- to medium-term earnings growth than previously expected and are likely the main reason the stock has decreased.
Williams Companies Trading Up 0.3%
Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current year.
Williams Companies Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 83.67%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $78.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Williams Companies from $87.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $83.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.60.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Williams Companies
Insider Transactions at Williams Companies
In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total value of $973,310.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 268,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,077,064.33. This represents a 4.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 17,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,262,930 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.
Williams Companies 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.
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