Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) Trading Down 6.3% - Time to Sell?

Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 6.3% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $58.32 and last traded at $58.88. 8,633,836 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 6,953,866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $62.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WMB. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. 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. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.25.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average is $59.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.37 and a beta of 0.65. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,941.50. This trade represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Flaharty Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.