Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Holdings Increased by Thomas Story & Son LLC

Thomas Story & Son LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 89,681 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma accounts for approximately 5.5% of Thomas Story & Son LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Thomas Story & Son LLC owned about 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma worth $14,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 66.5% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 5,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 470.7% in the 4th quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC now owns 4,212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 3,474 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,768,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,176 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $218,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $200.06 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $172.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WSM. Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “underperform” rating for the company. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.41.

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.