Asset Dedication LLC Increases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 14.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,504 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 569 shares during the quarter. Asset Dedication LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $191,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the 1st quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after acquiring an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after buying an additional 1,647,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $56,223,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.3 %

WMB stock opened at $44.26 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $53.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $43.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.72. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.49 and a 52 week high of $45.81.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.29%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank upped their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $42.83.

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.