Bleakley Financial Group LLC Takes $228,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 1,128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. Precedent Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,217,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WSM opened at $288.60 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $263.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.51. The stock has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a PE ratio of 19.81, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.