Cetera Investment Advisers Has $2.45 Million Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 13,234 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers’ holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,451,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 114,047 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,728,000 after purchasing an additional 6,757 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175 over the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $174.02 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $175.68. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.