First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Acquires New Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,357 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $274,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth $153,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.7% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 7,270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,130,000 after acquiring an additional 761 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 119,670 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $18,597,000 after acquiring an additional 9,239 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $320,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 13.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 12,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,958,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $301.56 on Wednesday. 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 $19.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $284.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.13.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.50%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last ninety days. 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.