D.A. Davidson & CO. Decreases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 4,901 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,966,000 after purchasing an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 6.8 %

NYSE WSM opened at $195.03 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $200.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.25. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.93 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.98%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % 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, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.34.

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.