Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Purchased by Focus Partners Wealth

Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 135.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,805 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 2,761 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 114,047 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,728,000 after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.81.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of WSM traded down $4.61 on Wednesday, reaching $167.91. The stock had a trading volume of 2,058,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,051,431. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.64 billion, a PE ratio of 19.86, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.98 and a 200 day moving average of $175.95. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

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.