Sapient Capital LLC Buys New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Sapient Capital LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $220,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% during the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after purchasing an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Aviva PLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $292,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $288.60 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $18.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.69. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $210.51.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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.