First County Bank CT Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

First County Bank CT decreased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 9.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,725 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up 0.9% of First County Bank CT’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,843,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Fairman Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com cut Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

NYSE WMB opened at $44.74 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $54.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.80, a P/E/G ratio of 6.32 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $46.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $44.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.57.

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

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.