LGT Financial Advisors LLC Buys 162 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

LGT Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 182.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 251 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $39,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares in the last quarter. HS Management Partners LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% during the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $62,139,000 after acquiring an additional 219,591 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 212.4% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 313,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $48,542,000 after acquiring an additional 213,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at about $58,213,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped 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. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were 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 owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE WSM opened at $129.47 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.55, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.54 and a 200-day moving average of $145.06. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.92 and a 1-year high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.76%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.