King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 2,057 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 47,015 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,057 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blackstone Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% in the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in 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 valued at $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $224,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its stake 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 worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,431 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.1 %

Williams Companies stock opened at $45.38 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.49 and a 12 month high of $45.82. 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 business’s fifty day simple moving average is $44.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.35. The company has a market capitalization of $55.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Williams Companies’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. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. 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 4.19%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

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.