Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Has $4.06 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE decreased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,156 shares during the quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,056,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,103,000 after buying an additional 413,226 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 54.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 4,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,619 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 90.8% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,988 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 122.1% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,054 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % 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. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on WSM. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $169.10 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $196.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.17. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.