J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Invests $213,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,150 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $213,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 6.8 %

WSM stock opened at $195.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.01 billion, a PE ratio of 23.07, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $110.93 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $200.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.64.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WSM. Wedbush boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $172.34.

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.