7,182 Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB Shares Bought by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Posted by Stanley Muller on Oct 29th, 2026

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB – Free Report) by 45.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 7,182 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Apella Capital LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 5,988 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 134 shares during the period. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 56.3% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 386 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 139 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,153 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,201,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% during the second quarter. Aletheian Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,830 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 5.2% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 2,986 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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: WMB recently moved above both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages, signaling improving short-term and long-term momentum. These breakouts may attract technical traders and reinforce the view that the stock has established support near current levels. WMB 50-day moving average article WMB 200-day moving average article
Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity points to bullish positioning: investors purchased about 151,361 WMB call options, roughly 997% above typical call volume. Options activity is speculative, but it suggests increased expectations for further gains. WMB options and moving average article
Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking ahead to third-quarter results, with the Socrates Phase 1 project, the Momentum acquisition and strong natural-gas demand identified as potential growth drivers. Williams’ fee-based pipeline model also makes it a relatively defensive energy holding, including for power demand from data centers. Williams Q3 earnings preview
Neutral Sentiment: Williams declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, payable December 28 to shareholders of record December 11. The $2.10 annualized payout represents a yield of approximately 2.8%, but the dividend was maintained rather than increased. Williams quarterly dividend announcement
Negative Sentiment: Rising interest rates could pressure WMB’s valuation and increase financing costs, particularly given its relatively high leverage. Higher yields may also make the company’s dividend less attractive compared with cash and other income investments, while rising operating costs remain a risk ahead of earnings.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their target price on Williams Companies from $86.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Capital One Financial assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $92.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Thursday, October 1st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $82.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Williams Companies from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.06.

Read Our Latest Report on WMB

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.85, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 262,259 shares in the company, valued at $17,794,273.15. The trade was a 0.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,401,430. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:WMB opened at $74.23 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $56.19 and a 52-week high of $80.07. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $72.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.13. The company has a market capitalization of $90.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.64.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. Williams Companies had a net margin of 25.17% and a return on equity of 18.49%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’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. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 28th. Investors of record on Friday, December 11th will be given a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 11th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 83.67%.

Williams Companies Profile

(Free Report)

The Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Founded in 1908 as Williams Brothers, the company has evolved from an early pipeline contractor into a major operator of natural gas infrastructure in the United States.

Williams primarily gathers, processes, transports and stores natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its assets include interstate and regional pipelines, gas processing and fractionation facilities, storage operations, and gathering systems that connect producers with utilities, industrial customers, power generators and other energy markets.