B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG Invests $1.42 Million in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 9,138 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,416,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 162.1% in the 3rd quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 27,602 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,276,000 after acquiring an additional 17,071 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 144.1% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,021 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $778,000 after purchasing an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Legacy Bridge LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 10,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 98.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 76.1% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,348,000 after buying an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $171.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $143.08 and a 200-day moving average of $144.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.31 and a 12 month high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

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 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 over the last 90 days. 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.