The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Shares Sold by Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 170,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,794 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $7,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blackstone Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 109.1% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 6,466,660 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $252,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373,800 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,039,703 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 40.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 5,753,223 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $224,203,000 after purchasing an additional 1,647,469 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth $56,223,000. Finally, Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 3,821.2% during the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 1,579,718 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $55,180,000 after purchasing an additional 1,539,431 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of WMB opened at $45.38 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $44.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.31 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 6.24 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.64. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $32.49 and a 52-week high of $45.82.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.11% and a return on equity of 16.17%. The firm had revenue of $2.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.46 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.42 EPS. Williams Companies’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 79.83%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $43.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $41.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams Companies from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.50.

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.