Tobam Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Tobam decreased its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 41.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,076 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 757 shares during the period. Tobam’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $64,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $968,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank raised its stake in Williams Companies by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 30,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the period. Napa Wealth Management raised its stake in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. raised its stake in Williams Companies by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Tower Wealth Partners Inc. now owns 4,591 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the period. Finally, Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $999,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.6%

WMB stock opened at $59.74 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $58.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.37. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.41 and a fifty-two week high of $61.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The firm has a market cap of $72.85 billion, a PE ratio of 32.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 106.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. CIBC lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $61.25.

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.