The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) Position Boosted by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,117,838 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 15,678 shares during the quarter. Williams Companies makes up about 0.8% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $38,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WMB. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 19,086,234 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $643,015,000 after buying an additional 712,048 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 8.1% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,455,063 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $486,991,000 after purchasing an additional 1,089,150 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.3% during the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 13,628,627 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $459,148,000 after purchasing an additional 921,537 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 35.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 9,553,779 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $321,867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482,331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in Williams Companies by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 7,018,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $244,467,000 after purchasing an additional 473,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $38.94. 6,275,644 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,942,194. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.03. The company has a market cap of $47.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.07 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.77. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $28.27 and a 52 week high of $39.99.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.49 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 29.22% and a return on equity of 16.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 24th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a $0.475 dividend. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.88%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is 72.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on WMB shares. Truist Financial increased their target price on Williams Companies from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. US Capital Advisors cut Williams Companies from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.22.

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.