United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires Shares of 3,000 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 3,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 131.0% during the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,988 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $165.46 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $195.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.12. The firm has a market cap of $20.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.