Prudential PLC Has $16.96 Million Stock Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Prudential PLC reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 7.3%, selling 22,384 shares and retaining 283,749 shares valued at approximately $16.96 million.
• Williams Companies reported a quarterly EPS of $0.46, missing expectations, while its revenue was $2.78 billion, lower than the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, with a yield of 3.4%, resulting in a total annualized dividend of $2.00.

Prudential PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,749 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 22,384 shares during the period. Prudential PLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $16,957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $268,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.36.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.38. 9,163,464 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,791,450. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $59.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.24. The company has a market cap of $69.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $43.45 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. This trade represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.