Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,210 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 8,421 shares during the period. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,805,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 9.3% during the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 64,345 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,845,000 after acquiring an additional 5,475 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 27,541 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 3,028 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,851 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $409,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares during the last quarter. Gibraltar Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,653,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were 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 directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.60 on Thursday, reaching $57.25. 3,203,181 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,059,903. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $40.41 and a one year high of $63.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.81 billion, a PE ratio of 30.62, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $59.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.91. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.

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.