TCW Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,034 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,607 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,858,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $194.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $23.94 billion, a PE ratio of 23.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $113.25 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $200.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.45.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.