Fulcrum Capital LLC Purchases 1,860 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Fulcrum Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,720 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the period. Fulcrum Capital LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $576,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 90.5% during the 3rd quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 67,325 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $10,429,000 after purchasing an additional 31,988 shares during the last quarter. Rebalance LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Rebalance LLC now owns 2,180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,090 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 105.1% during the 3rd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 5,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 2,885 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 99.1% during the 3rd quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 6,308 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. Elevated Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,169 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after purchasing an additional 3,586 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price 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. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.83.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $138.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $17.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $142.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.88. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $71.56 and a 52-week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.