Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 17,801 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 122.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,345 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 17,801 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Novare Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 68.7% during the third quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,572,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 105.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 173,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,897,000 after buying an additional 88,936 shares during the last quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 86.5% during the third quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,793,000 after buying an additional 5,369 shares during the last quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,580,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 95.1% during the third quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $129.80 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $141.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.92. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $71.92 and a 1-year high of $174.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 27.40%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Wedbush cut shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.47.

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.