Raymond James Trust N.A. Sells 4,702 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Raymond James Trust N.A. lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 150,583 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,702 shares during the period. Raymond James Trust N.A.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,400,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $306,417,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after acquiring an additional 14,672 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 145.5% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after acquiring an additional 56,509 shares in the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 28,444 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $991,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $91,820,000 after purchasing an additional 518,009 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.29. The company had a trading volume of 3,351,233 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,033,717. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.49 and a 12 month high of $45.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $42.97 and its 200 day moving average is $39.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.03, a PEG ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Williams Companies Company 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.