California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 4,991 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

California Public Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 213,744 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 4,991 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Williams-Sonoma worth $34,919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $212,107,000. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $85,075,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 740.4% during the second quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 591,690 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,664,000 after purchasing an additional 521,283 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 38,589.3% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 451,891 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $71,444,000 after purchasing an additional 450,723 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.6% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,741,639 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $284,532,000 after purchasing an additional 407,929 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $198.79, for a total value of $695,765.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,003 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,783,656.37. This represents a 20.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 12,161 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.07, for a total transaction of $2,201,992.27. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 846,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $153,353,071.89. This trade represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 126,653 shares of company stock valued at $24,724,440. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on WSM. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 28th. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday. UBS Group set a $175.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.00.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $186.72 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $187.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $183.90. The company has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.55. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $130.07 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 19th. The specialty retailer reported $1.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.10% and a net margin of 14.30%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.96 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 17th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.04%.

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.