Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,365 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 3,898 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $8,121,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 85.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 2,671 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 1,228 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 47.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 443 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 391.9% during the fourth 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. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.4%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $164.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.47. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $159.63 and its 200 day moving average is $176.16. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 996,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 46,915 shares of company stock worth $7,527,346 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.75.

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.