Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Sells 69,108 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,565,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 69,108 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $66,524,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 22,683 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $884,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Everett Harris & Co. CA now owns 15,175 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $591,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schulhoff & Co. Inc. raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Schulhoff & Co. Inc. now owns 17,883 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $697,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Argus raised shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $45.38 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $44.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $45.82. The stock has a market cap of $55.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.