First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Sells 1,478 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,227 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,478 shares during the quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Patten Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 23,899 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $832,000 after acquiring an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 9,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $354,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 8,553 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Realta Investment Advisors boosted its position in Williams Companies by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Realta Investment Advisors now owns 15,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $551,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares in the company, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WMB traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $42.80. 3,176,619 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,724,086. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.20 and a 1 year high of $43.22. The company has a market capitalization of $52.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a PEG ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day moving average is $40.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.74.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 79.83%.

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.