Argent Trust Co Has $4.03 Million Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Argent Trust Co cut its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 94,871 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,521 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 25,120 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,920 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 9,789 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $416,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 263,620 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the period. L & S Advisors Inc acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,328,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,016,985 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $43,222,000 after purchasing an additional 56,000 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $45.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The stock has a market cap of $55.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.49 and a 12-month high of $45.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.91 and its 200-day moving average is $41.20.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.17% and a net margin of 27.11%. The business had revenue of $2.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is 79.83%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $38.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.83.

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.