Virtu Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,072,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $163.27 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $197.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.60. The firm has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.