State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 34,094 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,210 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,879,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 27.8% in the fourth quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. JGP Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,155,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the third quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,413 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 3.3% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE WSM traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $282.16. 484,355 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,013,017. The company has a market capitalization of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $216.87. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.