Bessemer Group Inc. Buys 384 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 48.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 384 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $218,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $49,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $137.62 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $175.17 and a 200 day moving average of $173.29. The company has a market cap of $17.00 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.92%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WSM shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.