Cerity Partners LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 67.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,103,000 after purchasing an additional 413,226 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.3% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 549,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $85,069,000 after purchasing an additional 274,983 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Loop Capital increased 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. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $171.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $145.73 and its 200-day moving average is $145.38. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $90.87 and a one year high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.