Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 15.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 13,177 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,440,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,156,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, March 17th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.60.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 16.9 %

NYSE WSM traded down $27.83 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $137.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,115,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,132,205. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $191.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.01. The company has a market capitalization of $16.94 billion, a PE ratio of 16.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week 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 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Research 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.92%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma 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 value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.