Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Callan Family Office LLC

Key Points

• Callan Family Office LLC reduced its holdings in Williams Companies by 26.8%, selling 10,142 shares, and now owns 27,702 shares valued at $1,655,000.
• Williams Companies recently missed earnings estimates with an EPS of $0.46, compared to a consensus estimate of $0.49, and reported revenue of $2.78 billion against an expectation of $2.90 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a record date of September 12th, resulting in a dividend yield of 3.5% for the year.

Callan Family Office LLC lowered its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 27,702 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 10,142 shares during the period. Callan Family Office LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,655,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $335,419,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Argus restated a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.36.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of WMB traded down $0.48 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $57.38. The company had a trading volume of 9,163,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,941,327. The stock has a market cap of $69.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $58.26. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.45 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.