New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 5,300 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,174 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 5,300 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $14,847,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after purchasing an additional 565,745 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 6.8 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $195.03 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $110.93 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.25. The firm has a market cap of $24.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.98%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

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.