Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stake Boosted by Sigma Planning Corp

Sigma Planning Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 69.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 796 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth about $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on WSM. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $130.65 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.70, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $80.49 and a 1-year high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.40%.

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.