Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 5,000 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 19.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,139 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,000 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 60.5% during the first quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,414 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter worth about $1,036,000. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Blue Zone Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 166,534 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,490,000 after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 5.4% in the first quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 54,072 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,107,000 after buying an additional 2,769 shares during the period. Finally, Vicus Capital bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $321,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on WMB. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Argus raised Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.42.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE WMB opened at $42.30 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.20 and a 52 week high of $43.22. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.65. The company has a market cap of $51.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 6.67 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.56 EPS. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.83%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.