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

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,145 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 3,194 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams Companies in the fourth quarter valued at $306,417,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 21.3% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 11,593,482 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,801,000 after buying an additional 2,039,703 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 69.2% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 4,105,754 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,003,000 after buying an additional 1,679,452 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC increased its holdings in Williams Companies by 3,821.2% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,579,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $55,180,000 after buying an additional 1,539,431 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of WMB stock traded up $0.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.52. 5,567,552 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,498,141. The stock has a market cap of $51.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.87, a PEG ratio of 6.65 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.49 and a fifty-two week high of $45.10. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.65.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 16.27% and a net margin of 27.29%. The firm had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a dividend of $0.475 per share. This represents a $1.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 79.83%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 13th. US Capital Advisors cut shares of Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, CIBC upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $41.77.

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.