New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 30,726 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lessened its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 23,160 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,253,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. DT Investment Partners LLC grew its position in Williams Companies by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 890 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 158.4% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 55,795 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,020,000 after purchasing an additional 34,205 shares during the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hudock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams Companies Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock traded up $0.45 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $58.25. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,502,611 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,644,162. The firm's 50-day moving average is $55.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.98. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $33.85 and a 52-week high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $71.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 5.07 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 (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC boosted their price objective 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. Mizuho upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently 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.