DnB Asset Management AS Increases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

DnB Asset Management AS increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 22,529 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 636 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,172,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $193.04 and its 200-day moving average is $173.97.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly 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. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. 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. 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.