Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 155,297 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,193,647 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 155,297 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $54,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WMB. CVA Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.7% in the third quarter. CVA Family Office LLC now owns 1,578 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton increased its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% during the 3rd quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 9,298 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $395,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 31,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 275 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB stock opened at $55.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.48 and a 200 day moving average of $44.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.56 and a beta of 1.03. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.65 and a 1 year high of $57.33.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.01. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. The firm had revenue of $2.65 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.45 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.01 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, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.17%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 304,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,777,218. This trade represents a 0.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total transaction of $447,641.30. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 25,858 shares in the company, valued at $1,455,805.40. This trade represents a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. StockNews.com lowered Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Finally, CIBC boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $50.38.

Williams Companies Company 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.