Teacher Retirement System of Texas Increases Holdings in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB - Free Report) by 36.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 147,923 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 39,215 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Williams Companies were worth $5,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams Companies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. CGC Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,000. CVA Family Office LLC acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its position in Williams Companies by 37.3% during the 3rd quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 1,730 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the period. 86.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB stock traded up $0.68 on Tuesday, reaching $40.34. 5,972,670 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,915,763. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a 12 month low of $28.27 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $38.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.16 billion, a PE ratio of 16.96, a PEG ratio of 6.12 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.48.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The pipeline company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.49 by $0.10. Williams Companies had a net margin of 27.29% and a return on equity of 16.27%. The business had revenue of $2.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 earnings per share. Williams Companies's revenue was down 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 1.85 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 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.475 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $1.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. Williams Companies's dividend payout ratio is currently 79.83%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Debbie L. Pickle sold 38,200 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.61, for a total transaction of $1,513,102.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 60,410 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,392,840.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WMB. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Williams Companies from $43.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $34.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams Companies from $37.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, CIBC raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $39.42.

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.