SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Trims Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 65.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,822 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 18,721 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $383,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $306,417,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after buying an additional 2,482,331 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 69.2% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,003,000 after buying an additional 1,679,452 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3,821.2% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,579,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after acquiring an additional 1,539,431 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. US Capital Advisors lowered shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total value of $1,513,102.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.2 %

WMB opened at $42.80 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.20 and a 12 month high of $43.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.75 and a 200 day moving average of $37.70. The firm has a market cap of $52.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.98, a P/E/G ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.