Wendell David Associates Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Wendell David Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 200 shares during the quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $648,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. FMR LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $825,588,000 after acquiring an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during 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 holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $160,537,000 after purchasing an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $212.09 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $182.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $156.48. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $95.76 and a 1 year high of $212.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.16.

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.