Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. decreased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 28.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,145 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 13,309 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,138,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during 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 during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth 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 during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at $1,958,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.60.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 3.9 %

NYSE:WSM traded up $6.12 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $164.99. 2,211,010 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,983,772. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $192.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.07. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend 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.