Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 1,035,088 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 99.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,168 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,035,088 shares during the quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. National Pension Service boosted its position 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 worth $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position 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 worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position 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 worth $20,728,000 after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.4%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $174.02 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm's fifty day moving average is $156.85 and its 200 day moving average is $175.68. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.

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