Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Purchased by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,506 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 282 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,716,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its position in shares of 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. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $54,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $56,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM stock opened at $286.35 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $276.41 and a 200-day moving average of $219.39. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $319.78.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.58%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 31.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.