Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Bought by Abacus FCF Advisors LLC

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 46.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.4 %

WSM opened at $145.01 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $186.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.08. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $17.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business 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 quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This is an increase 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.82%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on 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. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

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.