Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Sells 5,797 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. trimmed its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 50.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,797 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Fairman Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 12th. CIBC lifted their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $41.42.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

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

Williams Companies Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,506,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,084,668. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.60 and a 200-day moving average of $37.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.86, a PEG ratio of 6.63 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.98 and a 12-month high of $43.22.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The company’s revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 earnings per share 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 given a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio 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.