Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Invests $104,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 560 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $104,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after buying an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $208.43 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $25.66 billion, a PE ratio of 24.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $97.57 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $193.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $160.38.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 990,956 shares in the company, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 88,160 shares of company stock valued at $15,129,352 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

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.