Ring Mountain Capital LLC Makes New $233,000 Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ring Mountain Capital LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,258 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $233,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WSM. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $187.33 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $201.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $168.71. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.13 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $23.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 26.98%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.