Geode Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Geode Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,674,836 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 14,615 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.17% of Williams-Sonoma worth $498,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $369,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 36.8% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 639.1% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 115,512 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $17,893,000 after acquiring an additional 99,883 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.1% in the third quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 2,337 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $353,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares during the period. Finally, Polymer Capital Management HK LTD acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at $279,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $2.80 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $136.42. 489,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,041,532. The firm has a market cap of $16.85 billion, a PE ratio of 16.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $183.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.77. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, 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 value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % 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 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Evercore ISI cut 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 note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.93.

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.