Select Equity Group L.P. Sells 4,053 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Select Equity Group L.P. decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 296,722 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,053 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. owned 0.24% of Williams-Sonoma worth $54,947,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mariner LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock traded down $1.92 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $172.36. The stock had a trading volume of 2,096,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,053,972. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $175.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.19 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.53%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total transaction of $627,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several recent research reports. 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 research report on Monday, May 5th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.81.

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.