Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Acquires 84 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $260,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,424,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,435,000 after buying an additional 7,564 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,616,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the 4th quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after buying an additional 2,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $164.38 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $156.20 and its 200 day moving average is $177.13. The company has a market cap of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.44, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total transaction of $627,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 42,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. The trade was a 8.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 79,227 shares of company stock valued at $12,962,573 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wedbush cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.06.

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.