Qtron Investments LLC Buys 6,261 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Qtron Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies, purchasing an additional 6,261 shares, bringing its total holdings to 21,294 shares valued at approximately $1.27 million.
• Insider trading activity reported that COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares for $263,115, while SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares valued at $119,360.
• Williams Companies received mixed analyst ratings, with CIBC upgrading the stock to a "sector outperform" and others, including Wall Street Zen, downgrading it to "sell," resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

Qtron Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 41.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,294 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 6,261 shares during the quarter. Qtron Investments LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,273,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% in the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares during the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% in 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 grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.3% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total value of $263,115.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares in the company, valued at $4,537,973.64. The trade was a 5.48% decrease in their position. The sale 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 business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. CIBC raised Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen cut Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Barclays raised 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. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $57.46 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $58.31. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $43.69 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.54.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.43 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

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

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.

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