Retirement Systems of Alabama Buys 151 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 126,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $25,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $286.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $319.78. The company has a 50 day moving average of $276.41 and a 200 day moving average of $219.39.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

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.