Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Stock Holdings Lessened by Ninety One UK Ltd

Ninety One UK Ltd cut its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 16.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 385,245 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 76,466 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $23,022,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 27.5% in 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 period. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 14.0% in 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 period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.3% in 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 period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.47 on Friday, reaching $58.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,545,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,105,000. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market cap of $71.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50 day moving average is $59.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.96.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

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.