Ossiam Decreases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ossiam reduced its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 97.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 12,666 shares during the quarter. Ossiam’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $50,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. This trade represents a 1.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,635 shares of company stock worth $12,609,055 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.9 %

WSM opened at $146.01 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $168.42 and its 200-day moving average is $172.89. The stock has a market cap of $18.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast 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 issued a $0.66 dividend. 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 1.81%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on WSM shares. 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 note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

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.