Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,153 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 83,764 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,153 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Williams Companies were worth $4,533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its position in Williams Companies by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 5,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 18.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 1,184 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its position in Williams Companies by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 5,073 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $275,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 995 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in Williams Companies by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 7,817 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $357,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WMB shares. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $47.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $53.29.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $57.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $56.15 and a 200 day moving average of $52.18. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.26 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.83%.

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.