Prudential PLC Sells 9,392 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Prudential PLC reduced its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,444 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 9,392 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC owned 0.06% of Williams-Sonoma worth $12,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Remove Ads

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $11.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $146.88. The stock had a trading volume of 1,151,437 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,057,959. The firm's fifty day moving average is $181.56 and its 200 day moving average is $173.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $18.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for 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%. The firm's revenue for the quarter 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. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.80%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369. 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.