SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 865.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 5,878 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after buying an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,807 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 47,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,831,000 after acquiring an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 4,181 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $774,000 after acquiring an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $176.75.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.7%

WSM stock opened at $157.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $19.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.48. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

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.