Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 4,402 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 10.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 36,102 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,402 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,708,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $290,121,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after buying an additional 262,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 72,000 shares of company stock worth $11,906,700 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. One equities research analyst has 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of WSM opened at $172.28 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a PE ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $164.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $174.12.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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