CapWealth Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

CapWealth Advisors LLC cut its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 802,971 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 14,230 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up about 5.2% of CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC owned about 0.07% of Williams Companies worth $47,986,000 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 the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.4%

Williams Companies stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $57.69. 9,722,167 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,048,724. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.91. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.69.

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.