Compass Wealth Management LLC Sells 17,333 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Compass Wealth Management LLC decreased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,341 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,333 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up about 1.3% of Compass Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Compass Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after acquiring an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $133,772,000 after acquiring an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 69.1% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $273,587,000 after acquiring an additional 2,065,906 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.79 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $57.69. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,722,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,060,902. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $63.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $59.49 and a 200 day moving average of $57.91. The company has a market capitalization of $70.35 billion, a PE ratio of 30.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.32 and a beta of 0.65. 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 (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 return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. TD Cowen started coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.