SFE Investment Counsel Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

SFE Investment Counsel reduced its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 11.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 30,924 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,153 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma accounts for approximately 1.6% of SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. SFE Investment Counsel’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,240,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,632,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after purchasing an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were 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 owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $280.46. 497,958 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,031,693. The company has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $211.90.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 24.71%.

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.