Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Acquired by Nisa Investment Advisors LLC

Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 124,882 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,451 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $19,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Hobbs Group Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised 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 research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM stock opened at $132.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $145.44. The firm has a market cap of $16.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.92 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, 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 net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.