Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Bought by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 123.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,273 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the 2nd 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. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,607 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% in the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $223,833,000 after purchasing an additional 192,432 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 73.4% in the second quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 380,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $107,409,000 after purchasing an additional 161,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $139.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.79, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $71.56 and a one year high of $174.26. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $142.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $145.94.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.