Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Cuts Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 60.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,070 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 92,229 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $51.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.68 and its 200 day moving average is $37.65. 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 52-week low of $32.20 and a 52-week high of $43.22.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 4.49%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on WMB. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. US Capital Advisors downgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of 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 assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

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.