Larson Financial Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Larson Financial Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,894 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 160 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $351,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $160,537,000 after purchasing an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $185.73 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $117.13 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The business’s fifty day moving average is $201.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.38. The firm has a market cap of $22.86 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. Barclays increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush restated a “neutral” rating and set a $190.00 target price (up from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.