Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 17.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 949,955 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 196,690 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $56,769,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WMB. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised 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 raised 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 raised 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 raised 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 raised 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 hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research raised Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.29 during trading on Friday, hitting $59.38. 7,919,170 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,112,531. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.41 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $59.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.14. The company has a market cap of $72.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.75, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.95% and a net margin of 21.18%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies 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.