World Investment Advisors Decreases Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

World Investment Advisors decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 99.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,496 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 147,764 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,568,000. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $237,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 59,109 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $10,946,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 41.1% during the fourth quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 103,211 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $19,113,000 after buying an additional 30,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 82.3% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 186,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $34,758,000 after acquiring an additional 84,119 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company'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 value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.5 %

WSM traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $148.96. 300,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,585. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. 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 dividend yield of 1.77%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.