Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Lowers Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 26.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,645 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,994 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,174,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm'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 in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $61.69.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $59.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS 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 business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

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.