Park Place Capital Corp Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Park Place Capital Corp decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 14.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,027 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,443 shares during the period. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $819,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WMB. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $42.39. The stock had a trading volume of 3,098,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,696,568. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.60 and its 200 day moving average is $37.59. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.20 and a twelve month high of $43.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.