5,526 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Purchased by Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,526 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,023,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third 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 lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,121,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,403,000 after purchasing an additional 337,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of WSM opened at $141.94 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $188.18 and its 200-day moving average is $173.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.93.

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.