US Bancorp DE Lowers Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

US Bancorp DE lowered its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 5.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 429,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 25,096 shares during the quarter. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $14,015,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WMB. Achmea Investment Management B.V. lifted its position in Williams Companies by 2.2% in the second quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 101,345 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,307,000 after buying an additional 2,179 shares during the last quarter. Aspire Private Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,029,697,000. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 144,209 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,706,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Courier Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,883,000. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 7.4% during the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 15,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $497,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 85.76% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $35.43 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.01. The stock has a market cap of $43.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 4.89 and a beta of 1.14. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.80 and a 1 year high of $36.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.77.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The pipeline company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.40 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 24.52% and a return on equity of 16.90%. The company had revenue of $2.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.63 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 15.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.03 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 Tuesday, December 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.4475 per share. This represents a $1.79 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WMB has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 18th. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.33.

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 Transco and Northwest natural gas pipelines; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region, as well as various petrochemical and feedstock pipelines.