California State Teachers Retirement System Sells 225,354 Shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

California State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,192,633 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 225,354 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.18% of Williams Companies worth $118,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 130,356,165 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,054,876,000 after buying an additional 1,008,213 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 31,263,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,687,797,000 after acquiring an additional 540,533 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 15,236,940 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $824,623,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,618 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth $575,103,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 28.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 8,781,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $495,215,000 after purchasing an additional 1,964,421 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total transaction of $1,467,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 133,048 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Mary A. Hausman sold 8,896 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,284,492.50. The trade was a 28.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 139,583 shares of company stock worth $7,563,278 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WMB traded up $1.21 during trading on Friday, reaching $60.01. 4,560,879 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,616,731. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $38.43 and a 12 month high of $61.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $57.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $56.44. 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 firm has a market cap of $73.17 billion, a PE ratio of 32.79, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 0.87.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. Research analysts expect that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Williams Companies's payout ratio is 109.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WMB has been the subject of several recent research reports. CIBC upped their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.77.

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.