Teacher Retirement System of Texas Cuts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lessened its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 53.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 113,371 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 132,695 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned 0.09% of Williams-Sonoma worth $17,924,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,291,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 50,915 shares of company stock valued at $8,203,186. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $173.06 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $21.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.45. The stock's 50-day moving average is $162.09 and its 200 day moving average is $175.34.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.