Federated Hermes Inc. Trims Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Federated Hermes Inc. cut its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,212,442 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 42,244 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Williams Companies worth $72,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.2% during the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. 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. Scotiabank upped 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 report on Tuesday, July 15th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Seven investment 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, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.5%

NYSE WMB traded up $0.32 on Friday, hitting $60.27. 7,834,823 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,791,986. The company has a market cap of $73.49 billion, a PE ratio of 32.23, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $63.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.42 and a 200-day moving average of $58.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Williams Companies 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.