Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Increases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,379,631 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,174 shares during the period. Williams Companies comprises 1.0% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System owned 0.11% of Williams Companies worth $45,017,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 96,588.4% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,423,739 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,086,641,000 after purchasing an additional 63,358,143 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at about $292,176,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Williams Companies by 332.8% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 10,946,832 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $326,872,000 after purchasing an additional 8,417,313 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 85.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 16,352,215 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $546,327,000 after purchasing an additional 7,551,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 31,131,423 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,024,224,000 after purchasing an additional 4,112,024 shares in the last quarter. 85.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,193 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $237,369.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 226,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,490,109. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,194 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.00, for a total value of $230,208.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 234,166 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,493,312. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Scott A. Hallam sold 7,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.00, for a total transaction of $237,369.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 226,973 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,490,109. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 21,581 shares of company stock valued at $690,591 in the last three months. 0.44% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. CIBC began coverage on Williams Companies in a research report on Monday, July 17th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. TD Securities lowered their price objective on Williams Companies from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Mizuho upped their target price on Williams Companies from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Williams Companies from $39.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.27.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE WMB opened at $34.34 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $34.29 and a 200 day moving average of $31.49. The company has a market capitalization of $41.77 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a P/E/G ratio of 5.14 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.80 and a 1 year high of $35.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 17.35% and a net margin of 23.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.40 EPS. Research analysts forecast that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.4475 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 8th. This represents a $1.79 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 82.11%.

Williams Companies Company 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 Transco and Northwest natural gas pipelines; and natural gas gathering and processing, and crude oil production handling and transportation assets in the Gulf Coast region, as well as various petrochemical and feedstock pipelines.