Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Sells 31,861 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH lessened its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 47.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,602 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 31,861 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WMB. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. One 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $42.83.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE:WMB traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.77. 7,165,846 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,437,417. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 6.25 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) 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 company had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.46 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. Williams Companies's revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.42 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies's dividend 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.

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