Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,177 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,780 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 95,464 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $18,396,000 after acquiring an additional 6,861 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $556,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 43.1% during the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 7,075 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,310,000 after buying an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $842,000. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 2,448 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.4 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.75 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $193.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.54. 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 $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

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.