138,204 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Acquired by Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super

Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 138,204 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $25,593,000. Aware Super Pty Ltd as trustee of Aware Super owned approximately 0.11% of Williams-Sonoma at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Promethos Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Promethos Capital LLC now owns 25,928 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,801,000 after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 29.4% during the fourth quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 7,431 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,376,000 after buying an additional 1,688 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Seeds Investor LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Seeds Investor LLC now owns 2,864 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $530,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:WSM traded up $1.42 on Friday, reaching $139.04. 1,236,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,056,842. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $173.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.18. The company has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

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.