Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 44,116 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 11,337 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $26,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.5%

WMB traded up $0.32 on Friday, reaching $60.27. 7,834,823 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,791,986. The company's 50 day moving average is $59.42 and its 200-day moving average is $58.27. The company has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.77.

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.