State of Michigan Retirement System Has $6.34 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,100 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $352,283,000 after buying an additional 249,389 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $290,121,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $183,273,000 after buying an additional 386,500 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $119,516,000 after buying an additional 24,741 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $87,148,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $165.06. 1,084,721 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,961,668. The company has a market cap of $20.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $164.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% 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 worth $6,990,946. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.