California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 223,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 18,429 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.18% of Williams-Sonoma worth $41,359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $164.99 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $20.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.01. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.