Round Hill Asset Management Has $1.55 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Round Hill Asset Management cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,357 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,430 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma accounts for about 1.1% of Round Hill Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Round Hill Asset Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,779,000 after acquiring an additional 493,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $141.94 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $188.18 and its 200 day moving average is $174.12. The firm has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

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.