Panagora Asset Management Inc. Cuts Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 15.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 143,536 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 25,322 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $6,100,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $46,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective 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. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $45.77 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.17. The firm has a market cap of $55.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.81. 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 quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $2.46 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 79.83%.

Williams Companies Company 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.