State of Alaska Department of Revenue Decreases Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue reduced its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 142,133 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 2,605 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth $1,429,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 15.2% during the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 764,399 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,753,000 after acquiring an additional 100,700 shares in the last quarter. Lowe Brockenbrough & Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $218,000. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Williams Companies by 13.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 616,787 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $20,779,000 after purchasing an additional 71,739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Up 1.2 %

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

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

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the subject of several research reports. CIBC lifted their price objective 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.42.

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.