Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $45.57 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 246,066 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 8,855 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $45,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.13.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $165.29 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $197.81 and its 200 day moving average is $171.83.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for 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 in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business 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. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

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.