Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Lowered by Hourglass Capital LLC

Hourglass Capital LLC decreased its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 121,810 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 19,070 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up about 1.9% of Hourglass Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Hourglass Capital LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at about $2,653,000. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 60,820 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,635,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 147.5% in the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 173,812 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,387,000 after acquiring an additional 103,580 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.3% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,409,627 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $263,519,000 after purchasing an additional 221,075 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WMB. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Scotiabank raised their target price 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. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $58.25. 7,545,940 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,105,000. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.37 and its 200 day moving average is $57.96. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45. The company has a market capitalization of $71.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 4.27 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 issued its 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 net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 directly owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This 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 the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by 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.