Franklin Resources Inc. Has $42.18 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 227,764 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 19,479 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $42,177,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $369,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 639.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 115,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $17,893,000 after purchasing an additional 99,883 shares in the last quarter. RBF Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 2,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $310,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 122.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 147.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,511 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,107,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $141.94 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $188.18 and a 200-day moving average of $173.75.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.86%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last three months. 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.