Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,084 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,225 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $29,782,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.9 %

WSM opened at $288.85 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $261.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.44 and a 52 week high of $319.78. The company has a market capitalization of $18.52 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $16,220,619. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.31.

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.