Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Has $926,000 Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 69.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 11,532 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $926,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $403,000. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $209,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $206,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,473 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retireful LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $1,564,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $2.35 during trading on Friday, reaching $174.02. The stock had a trading volume of 1,393,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,058,111. The company has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $156.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.39. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. 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 payout ratio is 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.