Catalina Capital Group LLC Trims Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Catalina Capital Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 19.2% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,620 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Catalina Capital Group LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $256,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $91,779,000 after buying an additional 493,146 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $41,793,000 after purchasing an additional 262,710 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value 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 approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,227 shares of company stock valued at $18,520,913 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $160.30 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $19.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $157.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.36.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $176.75.

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.