Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 203.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,996 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WSM. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 53,835 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,201,000 after acquiring an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $927,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 50.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,655 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,573,000 after buying an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 91.9% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,596,000 after acquiring an additional 2,707 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 88,160 shares of company stock valued at $15,129,352. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $163.16.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $216.70 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.76 and a 12-month high of $217.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.68 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $190.40 and a 200-day simple moving average of $158.74.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

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.