The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 40,145 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,194 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at about $306,417,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 15.7% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 108,302 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,221,000 after purchasing an additional 14,672 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 145.5% in the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 95,359 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,716,000 after purchasing an additional 56,509 shares in the last quarter. ETF Store Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. ETF Store Inc. now owns 28,444 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $991,000 after buying an additional 899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 24.5% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,636,222 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $91,820,000 after buying an additional 518,009 shares during the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $0.70 during trading on Friday, hitting $42.52. 5,567,552 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,498,141. The company has a market capitalization of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a quick ratio of 0.48 and a current ratio of 0.52. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.49 and a 1-year high of $45.10. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. Williams Companies’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.475 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.47%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WMB shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $41.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of Williams Companies 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,392,840.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.