Swiss National Bank Grows Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Swiss National Bank boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 111.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 381,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 201,000 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $59,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction 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 owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 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 company has a market capitalization of $17.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $141.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $144.44. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.24 and a 52-week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $138.84.

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.