New York State Common Retirement Fund Grows Position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 13.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 705,020 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 81,557 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.06% of Williams Companies worth $42,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,889 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $968,000 after buying an additional 183 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Williams Companies by 4.2% during the first quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 4,492 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Napa Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Napa Wealth Management now owns 7,190 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 1.2% during the first quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP now owns 16,712 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $999,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in Williams Companies by 13.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 1,700 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $102,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company's stock.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE WMB traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $58.18. 7,181,390 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,903,549. Williams Companies, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.41 and a 52-week high of $63.45. The firm has a market cap of $70.94 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a PEG ratio of 4.31 and a beta of 0.65. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $59.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $58.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.36.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.90 billion. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. Williams Companies's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.44%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 106.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of Williams Companies stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total transaction of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 315,645 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,941.50. The trade was a 0.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Williams Companies from an "underperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, June 13th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $67.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Tuesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams Companies has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $61.77.

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.