Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 69,406 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. decreased its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 10.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 612,064 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 69,406 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. owned approximately 0.05% of Williams Companies worth $36,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $7,054,876,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after purchasing an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% in the 4th 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. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $824,623,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,618 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $575,103,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded down $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $62.69. 27,809,538 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,939,055. 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 12-month low of $40.41 and a 12-month high of $63.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $59.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.64. The company has a market cap of $76.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.53, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 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 analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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. CIBC increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $61.25.

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.