Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

11 Aug 2026, 06:12 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $83.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperformer” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $81.00 to $87.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $83.88.

Get Our Latest Analysis on Williams Companies

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $71.70 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $87.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. Williams Companies has a 1 year low of $55.82 and a 1 year high of $80.07. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $72.69.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 9.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies will post 2.3 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.65, for a total value of $141,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 281,159 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,863,883.35. This represents a 0.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Glen G. Jasek sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.15, for a total transaction of $195,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 54,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,227,993.15. This trade represents a 4.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 18,500 shares of company stock worth $1,402,755 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.47% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,963,343 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,052,537,000 after acquiring an additional 883,245 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 67,981,106 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,086,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,296,991 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 46,053,873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,768,298,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100,164 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 33,572,067 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,018,017,000 after buying an additional 3,314,851 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 21,325,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,281,875,000 after acquiring an additional 3,748,126 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.