Cetera Investment Advisers Buys 1,846 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 13.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,080 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,384,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,765 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $437,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.9% during the first quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 58,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $9,174,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 12.9% during the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 83,553 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,210,000 after purchasing an additional 9,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $426,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE WSM opened at $200.95 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.76, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.48 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on WSM. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580 over the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.