Townsquare Capital LLC Grows Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Townsquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,404 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 3,380 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $91,779,000 after acquiring an additional 493,146 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $96,403,000 after purchasing an additional 337,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $139.04. The stock had a trading volume of 1,236,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,842. The business's fifty day moving average is $173.77 and its 200 day moving average is $173.18. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 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 firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, 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 worth $21,828,609 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.