First Interstate Bank Acquires 750 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

First Interstate Bank grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $232,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% in the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.1% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $132.20 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $145.21. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.92 and a 52-week high of $174.26. The company has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

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

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.