Lake Street Advisors Group LLC Increases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 99.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 746 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $134.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $17.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.74. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $142.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.63. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.56 and a 1-year high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.01%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.83.

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.