Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd Invests $827,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 4,097 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $827,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSM. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 11.0 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $279.76 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $299.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $236.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $348.51.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly 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. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $330.00 to $350.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.38.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $18,552,819 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.