Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 2,555 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,848 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,555 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $751,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% in the first quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $389,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFG Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $776,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on WSM shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI lowered 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $130.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $141.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.50. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.49 and a 52 week high of $174.26.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.