Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) is Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC's 5th Largest Position

Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 7.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,335 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 6,922 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies comprises 2.7% of Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Lee Johnson Capital Management LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $575,103,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after purchasing an additional 5,068,738 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 2,303.2% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,517,336 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $190,358,000 after purchasing an additional 3,370,974 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 6,407.2% during 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 period. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 69.1% during the 4th quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 5,055,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $273,587,000 after purchasing an additional 2,065,906 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. 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. 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 report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.8%

WMB stock traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $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 company has a market cap of $71.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.15, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. The firm's 50-day moving average is $59.37 and its 200-day moving average is $57.96. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.41 and a 12 month high of $63.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 106.95%.

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.