New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 34,845 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lowered its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 23.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 115,591 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 34,845 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.09% of Williams-Sonoma worth $18,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew 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 acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE:WSM traded down $0.12 on Thursday, reaching $173.06. 746,331 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,971,093. The company has a market capitalization of $21.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.74 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $161.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.66.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors 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 29.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $176.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value 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 quarter, insiders sold 50,915 shares of company stock valued at $8,203,186. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.