Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Penserra Capital Management LLC

Penserra Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 30.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,430 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,213 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,490,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $352,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,389 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $290,121,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $119,516,000 after acquiring an additional 24,741 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,148,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Zelman & Associates assumed 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 reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $3.58 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $177.31. The company's stock had a trading volume of 300,665 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,731. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $163.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a PE ratio of 20.08, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.45.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.48 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 42,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,990,946. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.