Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $60.63 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 327,421 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,172 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $60,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $49,000. Tobam acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $174.58 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $157.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.56. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

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.