California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stake in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) $WMB

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in Williams Companies, Inc. (The) (NYSE:WMB) by 7,567.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 162,591,616 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 160,471,058 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.13% of Williams Companies worth $12,087,061,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Infrastructure Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams Companies during the 2nd quarter worth $15,277,000. Cynosure Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $647,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter valued at about $2,504,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Williams Companies in the second quarter worth about $77,998,000. Finally, SIR Capital Management L.P. raised its holdings in Williams Companies by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. SIR Capital Management L.P. now owns 525,232 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $31,572,000 after purchasing an additional 150,032 shares in the last quarter. 86.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams Companies news, SVP Terrance Wilson sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.56, for a total transaction of $151,120.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 264,259 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,967,410.04. This represents a 0.75% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 19,000 shares of company stock worth $1,414,050. 0.47% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams Companies Trading Up 2.3%

Williams Companies stock opened at $75.83 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $92.76 billion, a PE ratio of 30.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $73.31 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.54. Williams Companies, Inc. has a one year low of $56.19 and a one year high of $80.07.

Williams Companies (NYSE:WMB) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The pipeline company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. Williams Companies had a return on equity of 18.49% and a net margin of 25.17%.The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.83 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. Williams Companies has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.350-2.350 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams Companies, Inc. will post 2.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams Companies Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 11th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 11th. Williams Companies’s payout ratio is currently 83.67%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WMB shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $88.00 to $89.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Williams Companies in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $82.00 target price on shares of Williams Companies in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Williams Companies from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Williams Companies from $89.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Three 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $85.60.

About Williams Companies

Williams Companies, Inc is an energy infrastructure company focused primarily on gathering, processing, transporting and storing natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company provides the infrastructure and related services that connect natural gas supplies with utilities, power generators, industrial customers, liquefied natural gas facilities and other markets.

Williams operates a large network of interstate and regional natural gas pipelines, gathering systems, processing facilities and storage assets across the United States.