Cooke & Bieler LP Decreases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Cooke & Bieler LP lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 30.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,272,038 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 977,432 shares during the quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP owned 0.19% of Williams Companies worth $96,562,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Consolidated Planning Corp acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $4,050,000. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 58,085 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,469,000 after buying an additional 1,796 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 8.0% in the second quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 126,985 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,397,000 after buying an additional 9,381 shares in the last quarter. First National Trust Co grew its holdings in Williams Companies by 10.4% during the second quarter. First National Trust Co now owns 11,619 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,099 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 4.0% in the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 56,249 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,391,000 after acquiring an additional 2,177 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on WMB shares. 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 report on Friday, August 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $42.83.

Williams Companies Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE WMB traded down $1.10 on Wednesday, reaching $44.45. 7,726,563 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,433,772. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.43 and a 200 day moving average of $40.51. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $54.17 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 6.29 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 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 business's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.42 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.