Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 94.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,088 shares during the period. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after buying an additional 467,407 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $108,345,000 after acquiring an additional 323,400 shares during the period. HS Management Partners LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% during the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,139,000 after acquiring an additional 219,591 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 212.4% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 313,335 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $48,542,000 after purchasing an additional 213,035 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, 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 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

WSM opened at $130.65 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $80.49 and a 12 month high of $174.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.50. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.40%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.