Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires 320 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,753 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $556,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of WSM. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4,101.0% during the 4th quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 138,004 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $27,846,000 after purchasing an additional 134,719 shares during the period. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 638.3% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 142,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $22,129,000 after buying an additional 123,114 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.5% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,861 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,118,000 after acquiring an additional 109,533 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $15,751,000 after acquiring an additional 63,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1,785.4% during the third quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 49,699 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,723,000 after acquiring an additional 47,063 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 subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. StockNews.com cut Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $258.38.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 11.0 %

NYSE WSM opened at $279.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $17.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $348.51. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $299.95 and a 200-day moving average of $236.95.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.62%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.