Yousif Capital Management LLC Acquires 161 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,275,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $275,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 61.2% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $95,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $153,000. Occidental Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $281.70 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.44 and a 52-week high of $319.78. The company has a market capitalization of $18.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $274.09 and a 200-day moving average of $216.87.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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

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.