Centered Wealth LLC dba Miller Equity Capital Advisors Sells 44,400 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

Centered Wealth LLC dba Miller Equity Capital Advisors trimmed its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 92.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,640 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 44,400 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies accounts for 15.1% of Centered Wealth LLC dba Miller Equity Capital Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Centered Wealth LLC dba Miller Equity Capital Advisors' holdings in Williams Companies were worth $218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in 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 valued at $34,489,000 after acquiring an additional 6,816 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 27.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 87,031 shares in the last quarter. Kessler Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter worth $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 during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 183,317 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,224,000 after buying an additional 7,618 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.68 on Friday, hitting $58.47. The stock had a trading volume of 4,606,763 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,044,355. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $59.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $57.80. The company has a market capitalization of $71.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.33 and a beta of 0.65.

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 5th. Barclays boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

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.