Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Purchased by National Pension Service

National Pension Service raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.26% of Williams-Sonoma worth $58,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Advisor OS LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $454,000. LGL Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $206,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 391.9% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 21,380 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,959,000 after purchasing an additional 17,034 shares in the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $293,000. Finally, Dividend Assets Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 50,990 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,442,000 after purchasing an additional 2,209 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.34.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.1 %

WSM opened at $192.16 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.41 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $201.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.62. The stock has a market cap of $23.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.73, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.19%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 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.