Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC Sells 650 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,197,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 147,923 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,152,000 after purchasing an additional 39,215 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 8,868 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $304,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $758,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $44.26. 4,602,869 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,411,479. The stock has a market cap of $53.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a P/E/G ratio of 6.11 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $32.49 and a one year high of $45.81. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.68.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank raised their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

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.