The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 13.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 219,952 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 34,402 shares during the quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $8,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $56,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.77.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,833,937 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,237,502. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $42.18 and its 200 day moving average is $38.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73, a PEG ratio of 6.62 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.49 and a twelve month high of $45.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Profile

The Williams Companies, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in the United States. It operates through Transmission & Gulf of Mexico, Northeast G&P, West, and Gas & NGL Marketing Services segments. The Transmission & Gulf of Mexico segment comprises natural gas pipelines; Transco, Northwest pipeline, MountainWest, and related natural gas storage facilities; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region.