Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Invests $7.07 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 35,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $7,073,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded up $3.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $287.81. The stock had a trading volume of 1,004,535 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,049,239. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $348.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.72. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $300.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.84.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 13.83%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.75%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $340.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $259.94.

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.