Arizona State Retirement System Acquires 1,034 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 350,480 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,034 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $18,968,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Williams Companies by 319.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its position in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $10,062,000 after acquiring an additional 83,429 shares during the period. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new position in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth about $995,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WMB shares. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $51.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group raised 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. Truist Financial raised 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 target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. One investment 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 currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.50, for a total value of $511,520.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 22,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:WMB opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $56.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $53.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $35.74 and a one year high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a PE ratio of 30.77, a P/E/G ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.29%.

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.