California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 82,368 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

Key Points

• CalPERS trimmed its Williams Companies stake by 3.6% in the first quarter, selling 82,368 shares and ending with 2,220,983 shares valued at about $161.6 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive on WMB, with a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.56. Several firms recently reiterated or raised bullish ratings, including a new “strong-buy” call from Wolfe Research.
• Williams posted a earnings beat and pays a dividend, reporting Q1 EPS of $0.73 versus $0.63 expected, while its quarterly dividend of $0.525 implies a 2.9% yield. However, insiders have also been selling shares in recent months.

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,220,983 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 82,368 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Williams Companies worth $161,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WMB. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH bought a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $4,627,000. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 261,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $15,689,000 after buying an additional 17,900 shares in the last quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Williams Companies by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $31,572,000 after buying an additional 150,032 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Williams Companies by 21.0% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,105,570 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $125,839,000 after acquiring an additional 365,546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in shares of Williams Companies by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 164,900 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $9,912,000 after acquiring an additional 13,438 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WMB. Truist Financial assumed coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $84.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Williams Companies from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have given a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $83.56.

Insider Activity

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.16, for a total value of $148,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 283,159 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,999,071.44. This trade represents a 0.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Larry C. Larsen sold 12,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.48, for a total transaction of $917,760.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 98,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,789.12. This represents a 10.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 68,500 shares of company stock valued at $5,182,655 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.47% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

Shares of Williams Companies stock opened at $73.34 on Friday. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52 week low of $55.82 and a 52 week high of $80.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.99. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $74.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $71.32. The company has a market cap of $89.60 billion, a PE ratio of 32.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.57.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 4th. The pipeline company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.28 billion. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.34% and a net margin of 23.39%.Williams Companies's revenue was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.200-2.380 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 12th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 92.11%.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc NYSE: WMB is a U.S.-based energy infrastructure company focused on the midstream segment of the natural gas value chain. The company develops, owns and operates assets that gather, process, transport and store natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its operations support the movement of gas from production areas to end users including utilities, power generators, industrial customers and export facilities.

Williams’s product and service offering includes interstate and intrastate pipeline transmission, gas-gathering systems, processing facilities that remove impurities and separate NGLs, storage services and fractionation and transportation of NGL products.

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