Lindenwold Advisors INC Increases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Lindenwold Advisors INC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,124 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,081 shares during the quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $639,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $314,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $201,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.5 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $133.89 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $141.35 and its 200 day moving average is $144.52. The company has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.24 and a twelve month high of $174.26.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on WSM. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma 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.