Prudential PLC Has $12.67 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Prudential PLC trimmed its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,392 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $12,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,779,000 after buying an additional 493,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after buying an additional 467,407 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $176.93.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % 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 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $141.94 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s 50-day moving average is $188.18 and its 200 day moving average is $173.75.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.