Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Sells 457 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lessened its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 457 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fairman Group LLC bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays increased their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. CIBC increased their target price on Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.77.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $1.34 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.74. The stock had a trading volume of 6,633,221 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,553,333. 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 company has a market cap of $52.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 7.00 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.49 and a 1 year high of $45.10. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $41.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.53.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The company had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 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.