FourThought Financial LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

FourThought Financial LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) by 33.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 582 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 147 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $69,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $28,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $32,000. Private Trust Co. NA purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Tobam purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4,416.7% in the second quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. 99.49% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $109.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $150.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, November 28th. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $114.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Friday. Finally, Barclays downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $192.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Monday, November 21st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $127.47.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $116.86 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $101.58 and a 52-week high of $176.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.62. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $126.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.08.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The specialty retailer reported $5.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.41 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.48% and a return on equity of 83.08%. The firm had revenue of $2.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.60 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.42 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 13.47 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 Friday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 21st will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 20th. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.08%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.91%.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

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Williams-Sonoma, Inc engages in the retailing of home products. It operates through the following segments: Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids and Teen and Other. The Other segment includes net revenues from international franchise operations, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham.