Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. trimmed its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 969,112 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 100,264 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for 0.9% of Financial Counselors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Financial Counselors Inc. owned 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $57,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,081,000 after buying an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after buying an additional 10,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after buying an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $57.80. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,391,204 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,075,607. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.91, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. The company's 50-day moving average is $59.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.91.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.69.

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.