Raymond James Financial Inc. Sells 1,358,769 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. by 14.2% in the first quarter, bringing their ownership down to approximately 8.2 million shares valued at $489 million.
• Williams Companies recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 3.5%, with a payout ratio of 100.5%.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Williams Companies, with a consensus average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $62.86.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,191,316 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,358,769 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.67% of Williams Companies worth $489,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $26,000. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4,490.9% in the 1st quarter. Iron Horse Wealth Management LLC now owns 505 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Hughes Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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 Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $58.47, for a total transaction of $263,115.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 77,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,537,973.64. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock valued at $507,875 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock traded down $0.92 on Monday, reaching $56.54. The company had a trading volume of 5,812,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,021,415. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a PE ratio of 28.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.91 and a beta of 0.66. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $43.96 and a one year high of $63.45. The business's 50-day moving average is $58.95 and its 200 day moving average is $58.31.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.43 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 announced 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 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WMB shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, CIBC upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "neutral" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and set a $64.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $62.86.

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.