WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 59,369 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 49.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 59,663 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 59,369 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma makes up about 0.7% of WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $11,048,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after buying an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 2.2 %

WSM stock opened at $165.46 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.37 billion, a PE ratio of 19.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $195.51 and a 200 day moving average of $173.12.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

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.