Marquette Asset Management Inc. cut its position in shares of Williams Partners LP (NYSE:WPZ) by 51.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,751 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 21,821 shares during the period. Marquette Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams Partners were worth $832,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WPZ. FMR LLC increased its stake in Williams Partners by 7.6% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,381,957 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,158,835,000 after buying an additional 2,001,870 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in Williams Partners by 12.5% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 7,766,761 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $317,117,000 after buying an additional 865,490 shares in the last quarter. Atlantic Trust Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Partners by 45.2% in the first quarter. Atlantic Trust Group LLC now owns 5,419,374 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $221,273,000 after buying an additional 1,687,346 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Williams Partners by 85.4% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 5,404,291 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $220,657,000 after buying an additional 2,489,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its stake in Williams Partners by 14.8% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 5,022,071 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $201,435,000 after buying an additional 648,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 23.94% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Williams Partners LP (NYSE:WPZ) traded down 0.30% during trading on Monday, hitting $39.30. The stock had a trading volume of 339,129 shares. Williams Partners LP has a one year low of $32.93 and a one year high of $42.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.76 and its 200-day moving average is $40.27. The firm has a market cap of $37.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.60 and a beta of 1.43.
Williams Partners (NYSE:WPZ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.13 billion. Williams Partners had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 17.82%. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Partners LP will post $0.76 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 11th. Investors of record on Friday, August 4th will be issued a $0.60 dividend. This represents a $2.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 2nd. Williams Partners’s dividend payout ratio is presently 143.71%.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Williams Partners LP (WPZ) Position Cut by Marquette Asset Management Inc.” was first reported by StockNewsTimes and is the property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are reading this piece on another website, it was stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. & international copyright and trademark law. The correct version of this piece can be read at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/08/07/marquette-asset-management-inc-sells-21821-shares-of-williams-partners-lp-wpz-updated.html.
Several brokerages have weighed in on WPZ. Zacks Investment Research downgraded Williams Partners from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price objective on shares of Williams Partners in a research report on Friday, July 21st. Barclays PLC raised Williams Partners from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 18th. Jefferies Group LLC raised Williams Partners from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $44.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, BidaskClub raised Williams Partners from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.77.
Williams Partners Company Profile
Williams Partners L.P. is an energy infrastructure company. The Company has operations across the natural gas value chain from gathering, processing, and interstate transportation of natural gas and natural gas liquids to petchem production of ethylene, propylene, and other olefins. It operates through its Northeast G&P, Atlantic-Gulf, West segment.
Receive News & Ratings for Williams Partners LP Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Williams Partners LP and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
