Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB)

Posted by Francis Steltz on Sep 11th, 2026

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 17,029 put options on the company. This is an increase of 54% compared to the typical volume of 11,080 put options.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.87, for a total transaction of $973,310.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams Companies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. U S Wealth Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $264,000. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at $79,196,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 82.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 422,885 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $31,437,000 after acquiring an additional 191,305 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 9,460 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $703,000 after purchasing an additional 599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,306,019 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $245,769,000 after purchasing an additional 89,010 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies News Summary

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

Positive Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with a Buy rating and an $85 price target, implying meaningful upside from recent trading levels. Scotiabank also maintained a Sector Outperform rating, although it modestly reduced its target to $85 from $86. Analyst coverage reports
Positive Sentiment: Growing LNG, natural gas liquids and crude oil export demand is driving a broader wave of midstream mergers and infrastructure investment. This industry backdrop could benefit Williams’ extensive natural gas pipeline and gathering network. Export and power demand drive midstream M&A
Positive Sentiment: An analysis of Williams’ competitive position highlights the company’s role in serving the Northeast, where rising gas demand and constrained infrastructure may support long-term growth. The Williams Companies: A Tough Competitor Tackles the Northeast
Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy put-option activity—17,029 contracts, roughly 54% above typical volume—signals increased hedging or bearish speculation, but options activity alone does not confirm a fundamental change in the business.
Negative Sentiment: A court ruling reversed a key water permit for the NESE pipeline, creating another regulatory obstacle and potentially delaying or increasing the cost of the project. The setback is particularly important because NESE is intended to expand gas delivery capacity into the Northeast. Williams’ NESE Pipeline Faces New Challenge From Court Ruling
Negative Sentiment: Williams priced a $2.75 billion, four-tranche senior-notes offering. The financing can support capital needs, but it also increases debt and future interest expense for a company that already carries substantial leverage. Williams Prices $2.75 Billion of Senior Notes

Williams Companies Trading Down 3.0%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $72.93 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.56. The stock has a market cap of $89.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.05, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.59. Williams Companies has a 12-month low of $56.19 and a 12-month high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.83 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Friday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 83.67%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $99.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $85.67.

Get Our Latest Analysis on WMB

Williams Companies Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company focused primarily on gathering, processing, transporting and storing natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company provides the infrastructure and related services that connect natural gas supplies with utilities, power generators, industrial customers, liquefied natural gas facilities and other markets.

Williams operates a large network of interstate and regional natural gas pipelines, gathering systems, processing facilities and storage assets across the United States.