The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,423,715 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 63,256 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.20% of Williams Companies worth $131,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. RWA Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 14,965 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 688 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in Williams Companies by 14.2% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 209,842 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,365,000 after purchasing an additional 26,084 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,771,000. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,958,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 35,307 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,911,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total value of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total transaction of $511,520.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 22,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. This trade represents a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 7.5 %

NYSE WMB traded down $4.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.61. The stock had a trading volume of 18,979,148 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,569,489. The company has a market capitalization of $66.59 billion, a PE ratio of 29.84, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $37.18 and a twelve month high of $61.67. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $57.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $54.95.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Williams Companies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $56.07.

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.