Janus Henderson Group PLC Has $60.63 Million Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 327,421 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,172 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned about 0.27% of Williams-Sonoma worth $60,633,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Tobam acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.4%

WSM opened at $174.58 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The business has a 50 day moving average of $157.49 and a 200-day moving average of $174.56.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price 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. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.94.

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.