Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 1,337 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE: WSM) by 22.4%, acquiring an additional 1,337 shares to raise its total to 7,302 shares.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed ratings for Williams-Sonoma, with one sell rating, ten hold ratings, and seven buy ratings, resulting in a consensus target price of $178.41.
• Williams-Sonoma announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, representing an annualized yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 29.90%.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 22.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,302 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,337 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mariner LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after buying an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WSM stock traded up $0.64 on Monday, reaching $200.06. 1,061,727 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,940,686. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $172.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $172.93. The stock has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

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.