Raymond James & Associates Cuts Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Raymond James & Associates cut its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,190,269 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 230,936 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.67% of Williams Companies worth $348,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $50,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 13th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, US Capital Advisors lowered Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.50.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

WMB stock traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.13. The stock had a trading volume of 6,779,316 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,576,848. The company's 50-day moving average price is $42.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $39.55. 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 firm has a market cap of $53.78 billion, a PE ratio of 18.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.99 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.10.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.42 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors 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 yield of 4.31%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

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.