Saxon Interests Inc. Trims Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Saxon Interests Inc. cut its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,282 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 264 shares during the quarter. Saxon Interests Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after purchasing an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.5 %

WSM opened at $201.61 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $177.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $154.89. The company has a market capitalization of $24.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $95.76 and a 52 week high of $203.41.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

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.