Prospera Financial Services Inc Acquires 2,387 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 98.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,387 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the third 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 during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,309,000 after purchasing an additional 461,361 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 323,400 shares during the period. HS Management Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 121.0% in the third quarter. HS Management Partners LLC now owns 401,105 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $62,139,000 after purchasing an additional 219,591 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after purchasing an additional 214,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $171.88 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $143.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $90.31 and a 1 year high of $181.42. The company has a market cap of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 2.71 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.56 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

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.