Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Reduces Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,774 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 159 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $274,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 2,128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,751,000 after acquiring an additional 63,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.1 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $304.94 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $319.78. The company has a market capitalization of $19.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $286.22 and its 200 day moving average is $225.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect 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 represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.48%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.