Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Reduces Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 44.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 881,321 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 718,918 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $52,668,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Myriad Asset Management US LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $995,000. ING Groep NV grew its stake in Williams Companies by 266.6% during the 4th quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 155,694 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,426,000 after purchasing an additional 113,227 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after acquiring an additional 10,561 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 72,904 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,946,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WMB. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.25.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $59.74. 8,203,352 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,784,011. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $58.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $57.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $61.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 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.