Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $778,000 Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 144.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,021 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,964 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Bridge LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Legacy Bridge LLC now owns 10,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,611,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 98.9% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $744,000 after purchasing an additional 2,387 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 76.1% during the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 8,703 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 3,760 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 92.5% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 44,130 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,837,000 after buying an additional 21,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 4,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 2,081 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $137.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $17.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $144.44. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $88.24 and a 12-month high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.84.

Williams-Sonoma 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.