1,248 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Acquired by Claret Asset Management Corp

Claret Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,248 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. MML Investors Services LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 2,018 shares in the last quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 101.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $791,000 after purchasing an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 140.0% in the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $102,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth approximately $23,123,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 457.9% during the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,344 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 8,490 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $139.04 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $172.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.10. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WSM. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. 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, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.93.

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.