Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $3.88 Million Stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 84,917 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 6,924 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,876,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. M&G Plc bought a new position in Williams Companies in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,036,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 97.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 24,333 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $948,000 after purchasing an additional 12,022 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 1st quarter valued at about $218,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 19.5% in the first quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 12,145 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 539.1% during the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 120,278 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,687,000 after buying an additional 101,459 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.55 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.86, a P/E/G ratio of 5.83 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $49.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on WMB shares. CIBC lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams Companies from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $58.00 in a report on Friday, October 4th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $51.54.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 7,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.30, for a total value of $447,641.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 25,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,455,805.40. The trade was a 23.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.29, for a total transaction of $90,580.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 304,200 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,777,218. This represents a 0.65 % 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.

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.