16,797 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Bought by Aquatic Capital Management LLC

Aquatic Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 16,797 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $3,110,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $91,779,000 after purchasing an additional 493,146 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $87,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM traded up $1.25 on Thursday, hitting $155.72. The company had a trading volume of 1,610,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,059,832. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $162.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.12. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 76,635 shares of company stock valued at $12,609,055. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, April 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.06.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand.