Meritage Portfolio Management Has $11.44 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Meritage Portfolio Management raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 7.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 56,675 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 3,763 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma accounts for about 0.8% of Meritage Portfolio Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Meritage Portfolio Management owned about 0.09% of Williams-Sonoma worth $11,436,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 63,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded up $0.48 on Friday, reaching $282.16. 484,355 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,013,017. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $275.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $217.72.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 31.02%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $248.06.

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.