New York State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 949,923 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 30,726 shares during the quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Williams Companies worth $51,410,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in Williams Companies by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 23,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,253,000 after buying an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 890 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $48,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 158.4% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 55,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,020,000 after purchasing an additional 34,205 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC grew its stake in Williams Companies by 20.1% in the 4th quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,255 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 1,045 shares during the period. Finally, Hudock Inc. bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $202,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WMB shares. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WMB opened at $57.00 on Friday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $33.03 and a 52 week high of $61.46. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company has a market cap of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a P/E/G ratio of 5.06 and a beta of 1.04.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.89% and a net margin of 27.36%. Research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.17%.

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.