WINTON GROUP Ltd Has $11.05 Million Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

WINTON GROUP Ltd lowered its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 49.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 59,663 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 59,369 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma comprises 0.7% of WINTON GROUP Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. WINTON GROUP Ltd's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $11,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,641,000 after buying an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 122.1% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 131.0% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 102.3% in the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,988 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $463,000 after buying an additional 1,511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 research note on Thursday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM traded down $5.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.75. 2,284,175 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,983,486. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $193.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarter last year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company 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 1.66%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.