Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $7.58 Million Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 40,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,579,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $369,000. Quarry LP raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 122.7% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 147.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,511 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,107,000 after acquiring an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $387,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $145.01 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a PE ratio of 17.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $186.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.08.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.82%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $178.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This 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 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.