Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. Acquires 2,945 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 111.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,590 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $866,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $33,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective 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. Wedbush lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $134.76 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $142.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.62. The company has a market cap of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.56 and a fifty-two 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. 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.