Korea Investment CORP Decreases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Korea Investment CORP cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 61% in the 1st quarter, leaving it with 30,734 shares valued at approximately $4.86 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Charles Schwab, have increased their holdings in Williams-Sonoma, reflecting a strong institutional interest with 99.29% of the stock owned by such entities.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a 4.2% year-over-year revenue increase and earnings per share of $1.85, exceeding analysts' expectations with a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $185.59.

Korea Investment CORP decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 61.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,734 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 48,079 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hemington Wealth Management increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. First Bank & Trust raised its position in shares of 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. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,159 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $499,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WSM shares. KeyCorp upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $181.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $160.00 to $184.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $189.65.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $5.1850 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $198.2350. 1,646,262 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,361,689. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $181.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $172.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share 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 for 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. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

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.