Natixis Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 20,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,142,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Long Island Investors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 99.4% in the third quarter. First Long Island Investors LLC now owns 172,683 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,752,000 after purchasing an additional 86,078 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 94.1% during the 3rd quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 121,545 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $18,830,000 after buying an additional 58,921 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 771.7% during the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 2,615 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 2,315 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 6,128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 3,064 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 163.4% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 140,833 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $21,818,000 after acquiring an additional 87,358 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $171.98 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.31 and a twelve month high of $181.42. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $143.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.87.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

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.