The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by United Services Automobile Association

United Services Automobile Association trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 6.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 37,367 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,762 shares during the quarter. United Services Automobile Association’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. SouthState Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock opened at $44.54 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.79. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.81. The firm has a market cap of $54.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a P/E/G ratio of 6.08 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 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.