TIAA Trust National Association Has $468,000 Holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Key Points

• TIAA Trust National Association reduced its holdings in Williams Companies, Inc. by 38.7% in the first quarter, selling 4,949 shares and leaving it with 7,832 shares valued at approximately $468,000.
• The company plans to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share on September 29, representing a 3.4% yield, although its payout ratio stands at 106.95%.
• Despite a miss in earnings results, analysts maintain a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating for Williams Companies with an average price target of $61.77.

TIAA Trust National Association lessened its holdings in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 38.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,832 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 4,949 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $468,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 577,123 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,489,000 after purchasing an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 87,031 shares during the period. Kessler Investment Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $327,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $5,130,000 after buying an additional 10,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted 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 valued at $9,224,000 after acquiring an additional 7,618 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 28th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $61.77.

Williams Companies Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $0.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $57.89. 7,541,097 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,024,555. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.54. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.79 and a 52 week high of $63.45. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $59.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $58.30. The company has a market cap of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.66.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.23% and a net margin of 21.63%. Williams Companies's quarterly revenue was up 19.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.43 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 12th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.