Gateway Wealth Partners LLC Acquires 500 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Gateway Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after buying an additional 214,669 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after buying an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after purchasing an additional 192,432 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 442,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $68,601,000 after purchasing an additional 173,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $132.47 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $141.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.44. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $71.92 and a 12 month high of $174.26. The company has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $140.83.

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.