Cadence Bank Grows Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cadence Bank raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $889,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at $115,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 471.1% during the third quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 40,331 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,248,000 after acquiring an additional 33,269 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 63.9% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $875,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $171.37 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $145.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $145.20. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.87 and a 1-year high of $181.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

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

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.