First Bank & Trust Sells 7,508 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

First Bank & Trust lessened its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,569 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 7,508 shares during the period. Williams Companies accounts for about 0.9% of First Bank & Trust's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. First Bank & Trust's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,456,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $34,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,816 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,081,000 after purchasing an additional 87,031 shares during the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 14.0% during the first quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after buying an additional 10,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE:WMB traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $58.79. The stock had a trading volume of 2,893,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,007,896. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.38, a PEG ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $59.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $57.73. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.41 and a 1-year high of $63.45. 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 (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company earned $0.59 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $61.25.

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.