Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stock Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,202 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 11,887 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Planning lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 9.9% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 199,046 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,086,000 after purchasing an additional 17,983 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 6.7% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 13,159 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $559,000 after purchasing an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 132.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 146,247 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,676,000 after purchasing an additional 83,300 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams Companies during the third quarter worth approximately $52,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 8,061 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

WMB stock traded down $1.02 on Friday, reaching $57.44. 11,081,263 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,709,167. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.09 and a 200-day moving average of $52.07. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.26 and a twelve month high of $61.46. The firm has a market cap of $70.01 billion, a PE ratio of 31.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, equities analysts predict that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $51.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho boosted 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. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.29.

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.