PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 64,062 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 382 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Williams-Sonoma worth $12,927,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $274,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the third quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,218,000 after buying an additional 2,128 shares during the period. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,751,000 after acquiring an additional 63,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was 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 directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $279.76 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $299.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $236.95. The company has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $109.44 and a 1 year high of $348.51.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.38.

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.