Lakewood Asset Management LLC Sells 151 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Lakewood Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 23,367 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 151 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma makes up approximately 3.0% of Lakewood Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Lakewood Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,327,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.9 %

NYSE WSM opened at $198.27 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $95.76 and a 1-year high of $200.56. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $176.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $154.58.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen increased 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 increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.03.

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.