California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 119,181 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 663 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $24,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,413 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $370,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

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 shares were 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 $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were 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 $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.2 %

WSM stock opened at $282.16 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $275.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $218.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

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.