Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Lowers Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 27,902 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 449 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0 %

WSM stock opened at $163.27 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $197.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.32. The stock has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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 issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a boost 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 presently 29.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WSM. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.93.

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.