Paragon Capital Management Ltd Buys 434 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Paragon Capital Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 20.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,557 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 434 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 235.2% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,384,403 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $168,426,000 after acquiring an additional 971,370 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $55,499,000. Steadfast Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $50,715,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 320.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 426,300 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $12,022,000 after acquiring an additional 324,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $204,292,000 after acquiring an additional 273,424 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total transaction of $1,406,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,630,201.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 10,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.68, for a total value of $1,406,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 54,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,630,201.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,533 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.64, for a total value of $201,804.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 9,185 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,113.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $143.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $115.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, September 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.94.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.14 on Friday, reaching $143.99. 1,803,217 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,182,584. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.22 and a 12 month high of $146.29. The company has a market cap of $9.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.61. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $136.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 23rd. The specialty retailer reported $3.12 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.71 by $0.41. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 64.43% and a net margin of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.87 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 13.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.90 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.50%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.88%.

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.