New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 1,200 Shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board decreased its position in shares of Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 2.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,928 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Williams Companies were worth $3,402,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WMB. Menard Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sandy Spring Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hoey Investments Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams Companies during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.44% of the company’s stock.

Williams Companies Stock Performance

WMB opened at $57.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.36 billion, a PE ratio of 30.86, a PEG ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 0.65. Williams Companies, Inc. has a twelve month low of $40.41 and a twelve month high of $63.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $59.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $57.91. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.63.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 5th. The pipeline company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Williams Companies had a net margin of 21.18% and a return on equity of 15.95%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.90 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Williams Companies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 106.95%.

Insider Activity at Williams Companies

In other news, SVP Terrance Lane Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.70, for a total value of $125,400.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 315,645 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,941.50. This represents a 0.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WMB has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $67.00 target price for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $58.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Williams Companies from $52.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $63.00 price objective on shares of Williams Companies in a report on Friday, May 16th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams Companies currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $61.69.

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.