iA Global Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• iA Global Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.2%, selling 17,201 shares, which left them with 30,278 shares valued at approximately $1.8 million.
• Blackstone Inc. and Marshall Wace LLP significantly increased their stakes in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter, with increases of 36.5% and 2,303.2% respectively.
• Williams Companies reported a quarterly earnings miss with earnings per share of $0.46, below the consensus estimate of $0.49, along with revenue of $2.78 billion compared to analyst expectations of $2.90 billion.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. cut its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 36.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,278 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 17,201 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 402,967 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,081,000 after purchasing an additional 87,031 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 85,839 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,130,000 after acquiring an additional 10,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $119,360.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $58.54. 865,496 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,776,954. The company's fifty day moving average is $59.32 and its 200-day moving average is $58.25. 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 market cap of $71.38 billion, a PE ratio of 29.42, a PEG ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.79 and a 52 week high of $63.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released 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). Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.63% and a return on equity of 16.23%. The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies's revenue was up 19.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is presently 100.50%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

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.