UMB Bank n.a. Acquires 308 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

UMB Bank n.a. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 57.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 841 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 308 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after acquiring an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 88,160 shares of company stock worth $15,129,352. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.16.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

WSM opened at $211.79 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.76 and a 12-month high of $212.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.87.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

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.