Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Increases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 23.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,505 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,390 shares during the period. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $290,121,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after purchasing an additional 262,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $352,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,389 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,990,946 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Zelman & Associates began coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.53 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $174.97. 837,573 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,968,217. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.84.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.