First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Has $1.30 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,227 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,478 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $306,417,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 69.2% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares during the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,821.2% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,579,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,431 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were 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 owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $42.80. 3,176,619 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,724,086. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.20 and a one year high of $43.22. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.74.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WMB has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. US Capital Advisors downgraded Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com downgraded Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies 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.