Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 18,570 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 287,040 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 18,570 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Williams Companies were worth $15,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. The trade was a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total value of $5,128,278.48. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,907,316.72. This trade represents a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $56.47 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $68.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.69 and a 12-month high of $61.67. The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.47 and a 200-day moving average of $55.96.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. CIBC raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.77.

Williams Companies 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.

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