IFM Investors Pty Ltd Takes Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 11,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,739,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gleason Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Gleason Group Inc. now owns 8,969 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,848,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares during the period. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 521 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $105,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 617 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $196,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.8% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on WSM shares. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:WSM traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $282.16. 484,459 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 810,698. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $319.78. The company has a fifty day moving average of $275.21 and a 200 day moving average of $217.72.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is 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.