Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Telos Capital Management Inc.

Telos Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 10.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 26,395 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,190 shares during the quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $283,955,000 after acquiring an additional 15,078 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 18,004 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,292,000 after purchasing an additional 273,424 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 815,713 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $93,742,000 after purchasing an additional 213,398 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 726,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $83,478,000 after purchasing an additional 83,343 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded down $0.07 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $282.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 387,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,034,783. The company has a market capitalization of $18.11 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $109.44 and a fifty-two week high of $319.78. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $265.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $211.40.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 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 Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last 90 days. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.