Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Grows Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 141.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 561 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 329 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $3,142,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.7% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,816 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 68.5% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Commerce Bank lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% during the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,481 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,173,000 after purchasing an additional 10,441 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $163.27 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $197.13 and its 200-day moving average is $172.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

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.