Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Has $7.50 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,504 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,980 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,435,000 after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,572,715.72. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 76,635 shares of company stock valued at $12,609,055 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on WSM. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $5.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $151.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,288,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,061,510. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $167.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $172.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.74%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 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.