5,789 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Bought by Virtu Financial LLC

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

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $163.27 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $197.13 and its 200 day moving average is $172.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company 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 revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.