Ossiam Sells 12,666 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ossiam decreased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 97.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,666 shares during the quarter. Ossiam's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $50,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of WSM traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $152.01. 173,105 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,053,420. The business has a 50-day moving average of $164.61 and a 200 day moving average of $173.39. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $179.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,635 shares of company stock worth $12,609,055 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.