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

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. SouthState Corp bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton raised its position in Williams Companies by 50.4% in the third quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 120.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 996 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Williams Companies stock opened at $56.55 on Friday. The stock has a market cap 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 Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.65 and a 12-month high of $57.33. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.98.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $2.65 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.52 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.36% and a return on equity of 15.89%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.45 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 is Friday, December 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 80.17%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. CIBC increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.54.

Insider Activity

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