Nvwm LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Nvwm LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 94.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 825 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Nvwm LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after acquiring an additional 323,400 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $58,213,000. 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 in the last quarter. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 105.7% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 350,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $53,948,000 after purchasing an additional 179,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.83.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $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. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $132.20 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.24. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.92 and a 52 week high of $174.26.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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

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.