Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 9,540 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 261,389 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 9,540 shares during the quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $11,109,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $306,417,000. Blackstone Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $252,006,000 after buying an additional 3,373,800 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Williams Companies by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $224,203,000 after acquiring an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. Finally, First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,223,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an "overweight" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Williams Companies from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. CIBC lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. One equities 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.com, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE WMB traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $45.50. The stock had a trading volume of 3,214,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,479,290. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.05 and a 200-day moving average of $40.02. The company has a market capitalization of $55.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.16 and a beta of 1.05. 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 $45.79.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.42 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies's payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Williams Companies 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.