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

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter valued at $720,000. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 162,799 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,811,000 after acquiring an additional 19,782 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 319.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 12,038 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 9,171 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in Williams Companies by 81.4% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 185,920 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,062,000 after purchasing an additional 83,429 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Myriad Asset Management US LP bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at $995,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $56.31 on Thursday. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.74 and a 12-month high of $61.46. The company has a market cap of $68.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.77, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $56.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.00.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.17% and a return on equity of 15.85%. On average, equities analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WMB. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $51.00 price target on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. CIBC boosted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.93.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

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

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.