Argent Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Argent Advisors Inc. cut its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 80.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,042 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 29,659 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $421,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 43,197 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,580,000 after buying an additional 631 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 173.4% during the 1st quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 2,515 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,595 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.9% in the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 238,993 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $14,282,000 after purchasing an additional 2,124 shares in the last quarter. Citizens National Bank Trust Department bought a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $60,000. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.6% in the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. CIBC upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.25.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $62.69 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.41 and a 1 year high of $63.38. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.66. The stock has a market cap of $76.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

About Williams Companies

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.

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