Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 13,309 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,138,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSM. State Street Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $160,537,000 after purchasing an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $96,403,000 after purchasing an additional 337,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of WSM opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $193.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. 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. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.