Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,106,733 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 35,797 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $38,548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after buying an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 45.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,545,151 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,993 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 55.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,900,745 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $165,106,000 after purchasing an additional 1,740,677 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 69.2% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,452 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 292.5% during the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,712,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $57,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,872 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.22.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $39.06 on Tuesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.27 and a 1-year high of $39.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $37.93 and its 200 day moving average is $36.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.20% and a net margin of 29.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is presently 72.52%.

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.