Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Sells 434 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina decreased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 89,221 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 434 shares during the quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina owned approximately 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma worth $16,522,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $290,121,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,403,000 after purchasing an additional 337,564 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced 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, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $147.95 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company’s fifty day moving average is $179.22 and its 200 day moving average is $173.66. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm 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 business’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.78%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.