New York Life Investment Management LLC Buys 81 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

New York Life Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,097 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Truist Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4,101.0% in the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 138,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $27,846,000 after buying an additional 134,719 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 638.3% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 142,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $22,129,000 after buying an additional 123,114 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,118,000 after purchasing an additional 109,533 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 63,200 shares during the period. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,785.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 49,699 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,723,000 after purchasing an additional 47,063 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, 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 transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $301.56 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $284.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $225.13. The company has a market capitalization of $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $319.78.

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. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. 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 1.50%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

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.