Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Acquired by Taurus Asset Management LLC

Taurus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Taurus Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $775,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $82,309,000 after acquiring an additional 461,361 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after acquiring an additional 323,400 shares during the period. HS Management Partners LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% during the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $62,139,000 after acquiring an additional 219,591 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after purchasing an additional 214,669 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $130.65 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $141.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.50. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.49 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.