Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Cuts Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lessened its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,974 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 12,768 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of Williams-Sonoma worth $23,143,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after buying an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $194.44 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $200.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.45. The company has a market capitalization of $23.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $113.25 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.