Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $57.94 Million Stock Position in The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lowered its position in shares of The Williams Companies, Inc. (NYSE:WMB) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,070,511 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,155 shares during the period. Williams Companies makes up 1.3% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $57,936,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR acquired a new position in Williams Companies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,878,000. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 13,765 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $745,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 78.2% in the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 196,459 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $10,711,000 after buying an additional 86,227 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,674 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $361,000 after buying an additional 743 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams Companies by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,580 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 635 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WMB. CIBC increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $57.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $46.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Williams Companies from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Williams Companies from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.07.

Insider Transactions at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Larry C. Larsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.94, for a total transaction of $455,520.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 81,265 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,627,229.10. This represents a 8.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Chad A. Teply sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.46, for a total value of $1,467,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 133,048 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,511,890.08. This trade represents a 16.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 139,583 shares of company stock valued at $7,563,278. 0.44% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams Companies Stock Down 0.0 %

WMB stock opened at $58.38 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.90, a PEG ratio of 5.01 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $56.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.75. The Williams Companies, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $37.16 and a fifty-two week high of $61.46.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The pipeline company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.47. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 15.85% and a net margin of 21.17%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that The Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams Companies Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Williams Companies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.43%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.29%.

About Williams Companies

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.