Hourglass Capital LLC Sells 19,070 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Hourglass Capital LLC decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in 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 quarter. Williams Companies makes up 1.9% of Hourglass Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Hourglass Capital LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 13,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $740,000 after acquiring an additional 3,969 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $327,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 51.7% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 11,622 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $629,000 after acquiring an additional 3,961 shares during the period. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 6,355 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 490.1% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 15,011 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 12,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Barclays raised their price objective on 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.01 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $57.70. 7,267,274 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,074,344. The company has a market capitalization of $70.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.45.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Company 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.