MetLife Investment Management LLC Purchases 34,311 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 96.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,881 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 34,311 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned 0.06% of Williams-Sonoma worth $10,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $129,103,000 after purchasing an additional 413,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,607 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.5 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $171.39 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.76. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $145.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.38. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.87 and a twelve month high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

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.