Focus Partners Wealth Grows Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 135.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,761 shares during the quarter. Focus Partners Wealth’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $897,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 88,672 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $16,420,000 after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 257.6% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 7,353 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,362,000 after buying an additional 5,297 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 380,160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $70,398,000 after buying an additional 27,176 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 13,234 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 1,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgefront Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $589,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $174.02 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $156.85 and a 200 day moving average of $175.68. The stock has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.