Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Position Increased by OLD National Bancorp IN

OLD National Bancorp IN raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,998 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 6,698 shares during the period. OLD National Bancorp IN owned about 0.09% of Williams-Sonoma worth $11,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $279.20. The stock had a trading volume of 744,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,278. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $269.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $213.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

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.