The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,367 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,762 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,588,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after buying an additional 1,175,628 shares in the last quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% in the second quarter. Tortoise Capital Advisors L.L.C. now owns 12,670,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $538,482,000 after acquiring an additional 144,713 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $403,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth $306,417,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.4% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 8,540,611 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $332,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,010,658 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $44.54 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year high of $45.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.79. The company has a market capitalization of $54.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.42 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

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.