UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Sells 15,765 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd decreased its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,659 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 15,765 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.9% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 20,983,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $817,736,000 after purchasing an additional 1,175,628 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares during the period. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at $795,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,046,096 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $274,586,000 after buying an additional 27,233 shares during the period. Finally, Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 24.4% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $359,000 after buying an additional 1,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. CIBC boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded down $1.59 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.49. 10,198,546 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,578,617. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.10. The company has a market cap of $51.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a PEG ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $41.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio 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.