United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Takes Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,000 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $556,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Wedbush decreased 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 report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $5.67 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $158.75. 2,284,175 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,983,486. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.54.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.