Centric Wealth Management Raises Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Centric Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,960 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. MCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSM. Barclays upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.4 %

WSM traded up $1.11 on Wednesday, hitting $302.73. 254,057 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,545. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $284.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.13. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $319.78. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

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.