Caprock Group LLC Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 76.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,703 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,760 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,348,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $82,309,000 after purchasing an additional 461,361 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% during the 3rd quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $62,139,000 after purchasing an additional 219,591 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $272,462,000 after purchasing an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $175.04 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $141.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.63 and a fifty-two week high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.84.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.