California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 97,801 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 4.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,306,715 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 97,801 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $144,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Williams Companies by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 133,075,340 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,358,462,000 after acquiring an additional 1,912,156 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 29,624,104 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,770,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,680,477 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,291,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $913,840,000 after purchasing an additional 54,902 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 27.3% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 14,417,821 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $905,583,000 after purchasing an additional 3,089,390 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at approximately $765,164,000. Institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.53, for a total value of $242,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 302,645 shares in the company, valued at $18,319,101.85. This trade represents a 1.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on WMB shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Williams Companies from $59.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Cibc World Mkts upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 15th. Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.21.

Williams Companies Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $62.84 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $60.82 and its 200 day moving average is $59.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.74 billion, a PE ratio of 32.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 0.62. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 1 year low of $51.58 and a 1 year high of $65.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.87 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 20.61% and a return on equity of 16.74%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Williams Companies has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.010-2.190 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 29th. Investors of record on Friday, December 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.09%.

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 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.