Legato Capital Management LLC Takes $749,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 4,194 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $749,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,139,477 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,199,961,000 after purchasing an additional 147,780 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 30.7% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,269,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $443,566,000 after purchasing an additional 532,995 shares during the period. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $254,778,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 31.6% during the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,094,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $213,888,000 after purchasing an additional 263,027 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,014,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $181,213,000 after purchasing an additional 17,229 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WSM opened at $192.95 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $152.20 and a 12 month high of $222.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $184.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $191.68. The firm has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.49.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.83% and a net margin of 13.81%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.29 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 2,267 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total transaction of $436,374.83. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,494,833.99. This trade represents a 8.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $188.45, for a total value of $267,410.55. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,138 shares in the company, valued at $6,433,306.10. This represents a 3.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 91,370 shares of company stock valued at $16,720,823. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, May 18th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Barclays set a $190.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $207.94.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.