Conning Inc. Lowers Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 46.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,938 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 13,056 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $893,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Menard Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Transce3nd LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.1%

NYSE:WMB opened at $58.47 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.26, a P/E/G ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.41 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $59.51 and a 200 day moving average of $57.80.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank increased their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.

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