Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 79.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,463 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 17,121 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. SouthState Corp purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the second quarter worth $31,000. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $34,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the first quarter worth about $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $47.46.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total value of $90,580.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock opened at $52.36 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $46.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.89. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $63.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.47, a PEG ratio of 5.88 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.65 and a fifty-two week high of $52.44.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $2.34 billion during 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 company’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 81.55%.

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.