Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC Acquires 279 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,962 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $55,499,000. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $56,497,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $50,715,000. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,782,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, 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 in the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $279.20 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $17.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.70. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $269.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $213.68. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during 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 business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 31.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

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.