Select Equity Group L.P. Sells 4,053 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Select Equity Group L.P. cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 296,722 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 4,053 shares during the quarter. Select Equity Group L.P.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $54,947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $246,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $1,454,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $1,424,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 42,527 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $7,875,000 after buying an additional 16,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Man Group plc lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Man Group plc now owns 87,808 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $16,260,000 after buying an additional 13,982 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $174.02 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $156.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.10.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.