Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $26.13 Million Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Williams Companies by 7.6%, acquiring an additional 30,959 shares, bringing its total holdings to 437,902 shares valued at approximately $26.13 million.
• Williams Companies reported a quarterly EPS of $0.46, missing expectations, with revenues of $2.78 billion, which was below the anticipated $2.90 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, scheduled for payment on September 29th, representing an annualized yield of 3.5% and a payout ratio of 100.50%.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 437,902 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 30,959 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $26,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $335,419,000. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,623,000 after purchasing an additional 3,519,370 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $190,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 6,407.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,238,490 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $133,772,000 after purchasing an additional 2,204,090 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 4,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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. This represents a 5.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,500 shares of company stock worth $507,875 over the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.38. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,163,464 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,941,327. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.83, a PEG ratio of 1.92 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $59.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $58.26. Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $43.45 and a fifty-two week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $66.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $62.36.

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.