McBroom & Associates LLC Grows Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

McBroom & Associates LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,090 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma makes up 0.4% of McBroom & Associates LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. McBroom & Associates LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the second 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 last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after buying an additional 192,432 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after buying an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 73.4% in the 2nd quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 380,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $107,409,000 after buying an additional 161,000 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Wedbush reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following 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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.6 %

WSM stock opened at $144.03 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $142.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $146.20. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.56 and a 12-month high of $174.26. The company has a market capitalization of $18.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.74.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued 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 yield of 1.58%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.