Greenleaf Trust Has $644,000 Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Greenleaf Trust lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,192 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $644,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 53.2% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 404,782 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,903,000 after purchasing an additional 140,551 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 638.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 142,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 123,114 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $60,118,000 after buying an additional 109,533 shares during the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1,785.4% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 49,699 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after purchasing an additional 47,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 396.6% in the third quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 54,128 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,411,000 after buying an additional 43,228 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock opened at $280.13 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78. The stock has a market cap of $18.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $270.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $215.02.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.50 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last ninety days. Corporate 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.