Signaturefd LLC Has $851,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Signaturefd LLC lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $851,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays upped 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $179.53.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $166.20 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $198.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $171.88.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly 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. 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 analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 26.98%.

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.