Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $25.53 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,539 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 151 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned 0.20% of Williams-Sonoma worth $25,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $226,287,000 after acquiring an additional 18,004 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 416,741 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $84,090,000 after purchasing an additional 11,959 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,118,000 after purchasing an additional 109,533 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 231,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,987,000 after buying an additional 2,935 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 229,476 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $35,661,000 after buying an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.5 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $286.35 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $276.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.39. The stock has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. As a group, 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 a total of 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.