Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Acquired by Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.

Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,516 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after purchasing an additional 12,061 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE WSM opened at $163.27 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $20.10 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

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.