Morningstar Investment Management LLC Sells 20,060 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Morningstar Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. by 31.5%, selling 20,060 shares and leaving it with 43,580 shares worth approximately $2.6 million.
• The company reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.60, exceeding predictions by $0.05, and its revenue grew by 10% year-over-year to reach $3.05 billion.
• Currently, institutional investors own 86.44% of Williams Companies, reflecting significant interest from various hedge funds and investment firms.

Morningstar Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 31.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,580 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 20,060 shares during the quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,604,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,489,000 after buying an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.5% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after purchasing an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at about $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 14.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,130,000 after purchasing an additional 10,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents 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 available at this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.52 on Friday, reaching $60.47. The company had a trading volume of 4,533,739 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,766,731. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.27. The company has a market cap of $73.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.41 and a 52-week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for 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%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. 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 report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.77.

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.