Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Trimmed by Invesco Ltd.

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. has reduced its stake in Williams Companies by 14.3%, now holding approximately 11.3 million shares valued at $677 million.
• The company reported Q2 earnings of $0.46 per share, missing the estimate of $0.49, with revenue of $2.78 billion compared to a forecast of $2.90 billion.
• Williams Companies announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50, yielding 3.5%, with a dividend payout ratio of 100.50% and payment scheduled for September 29th.

Invesco Ltd. cut its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,328,431 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,889,056 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned about 0.93% of Williams Companies worth $676,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 131,163,184 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,838,312,000 after buying an additional 807,019 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 36.5% during the 4th quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 18,954,088 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,025,795,000 after buying an additional 5,068,738 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 17,520,491 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,047,025,000 after buying an additional 932,998 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $824,623,000 after buying an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 45.0% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 11,339,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $677,623,000 after buying an additional 3,519,370 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $57.89 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a market capitalization of $70.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.66. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.79 and a 12 month high of $63.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $59.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $58.26.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.49 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $2.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 100.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $119,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 313,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,718,333.60. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on WMB shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.00.

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.

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