Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 1,252 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,252 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $253,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $226,287,000 after acquiring an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 416,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $84,090,000 after purchasing an additional 11,959 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,118,000 after purchasing an additional 109,533 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 231,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,987,000 after purchasing an additional 2,935 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,476 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,661,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $282.16 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $275.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.72. The firm has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 31.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

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.