The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Stock Position Lowered by University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 42.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,778 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,893 shares during the quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 17,883 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $697,000 after buying an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $342,000 after buying an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WMB. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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. Finally, Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of WMB opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.83. 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $46.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a P/E/G ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was 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.