Abacus FCF Advisors LLC Has $4.44 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 46.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $183,273,000 after buying an additional 386,500 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,306 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,231 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,117,000 after acquiring an additional 811 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,228 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $5,442,000 after purchasing an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trek Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $4,047,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on WSM shares. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong 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 target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, reaching $147.95. 1,802,890 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,064,483. The firm has a market cap of $18.27 billion, a PE ratio of 17.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The firm's 50 day moving average is $179.22 and its 200-day moving average is $173.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.