Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Takes Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,147 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,317,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.2% during the first quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,405 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,034,000 after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the period. Covenant Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% during the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 18,500 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,874,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 47.6% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 828 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $263,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 12,190 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,871,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price target for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $258.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded up $7.08 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $316.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,299,377 shares, compared to its average volume of 978,319. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.44 and a fifty-two week high of $322.04. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $298.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $235.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.72.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company's revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a $1.13 dividend. 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. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

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.

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