National Pension Service Raises Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

National Pension Service grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 212.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 313,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 213,035 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.25% of Williams-Sonoma worth $48,542,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after buying an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after acquiring an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% in the 1st quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after acquiring an additional 192,432 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 442,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $68,601,000 after purchasing an additional 173,223 shares during the period. Finally, HS Management Partners LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% during the 3rd quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,139,000 after purchasing an additional 219,591 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $134.90 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.04 billion, a PE ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50-day moving average is $141.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.17. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.92 and a 1 year high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.83.

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.