Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky trimmed its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 4.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,504 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,980 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,501,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $179.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. The trade was a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 76,635 shares of company stock valued at $12,609,055. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded down $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.24. 1,391,800 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,064,077. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $165.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.68 billion, a PE ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 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 Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.