Cerity Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 53.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,393 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,988 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% during the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Quarry LP increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 229.8% during the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 277 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $279.69 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $268.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $212.37. The stock has a market cap of $17.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 24.71%.

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.