Handelsbanken Fonder AB Buys 63,200 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 425.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,200 shares during the quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned about 0.12% of Williams-Sonoma worth $15,751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Ronald Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 38.8% during the third quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $285.02 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day moving average of $271.65 and a 200 day moving average of $215.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.44 and a 1 year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on WSM. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma 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.