Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,899 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,403,000 after purchasing an additional 337,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.04. 1,236,764 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,056,842. The company's 50 day moving average price is $173.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.18. The company has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a P/E 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.90%. Williams-Sonoma's 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.