Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,025,492 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 8,844 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up approximately 0.7% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $109,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WMB. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Sandy Spring Bank bought a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. CIBC upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.07.

Williams Companies Price Performance

NYSE:WMB opened at $59.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.44, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.79. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.18 and a 1 year high of $61.46.

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

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams Companies

In related news, COO Micheal G. Dunn sold 96,687 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.04, for a total transaction of $5,128,278.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 714,693 shares in the company, valued at $37,907,316.72. The trade was a 11.92 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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. Insiders sold 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

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.