Evermay Wealth Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $93,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 92.9% during the third quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 158,936 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $24,622,000 after purchasing an additional 76,555 shares during the last quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 74.9% in the third quarter. Trajan Wealth LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $350,000 after buying an additional 969 shares in the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 25,119 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,891,000 after buying an additional 10,918 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 44.8% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 1,452 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $225,000 after acquiring an additional 449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, 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 directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

WSM stock opened at $132.40 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $16.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.90, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.35. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $71.92 and a 52 week high of $174.26.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.83.

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.