Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Buys 30,082 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 41.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 103,211 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,082 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $19,113,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. State Street Corp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after acquiring an additional 565,745 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, March 17th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $158.75 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $193.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently 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.