OLD National Bancorp IN Purchases 6,698 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

OLD National Bancorp IN lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,998 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 6,698 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN owned about 0.09% of Williams-Sonoma worth $11,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,782,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $0.33 during trading on Friday, hitting $279.20. 744,940 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 816,278. The company has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.44 and a 1 year high of $319.78. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $269.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $214.11.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $248.06.

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.