The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co.

University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. trimmed its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 42.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,778 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,893 shares during the period. 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 reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Everett Harris & Co. CA grew its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% in the first quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $591,000 after buying an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. raised 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 period. Finally, Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 3.3% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,770 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on WMB shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $46.36 on Wednesday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $46.48. The company has a market capitalization of $56.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.20 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. 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.