First Interstate Bank Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

First Interstate Bank grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 750 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $232,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Novare Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 68.7% in the third quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 4,132 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 105.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 173,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,897,000 after acquiring an additional 88,936 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 86.5% in the 3rd quarter. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. now owns 11,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,793,000 after acquiring an additional 5,369 shares during the period. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 10,200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,580,000 after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the period. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 95.1% in the 3rd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 44,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,950,000 after buying an additional 21,870 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Wedbush lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.83.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE WSM opened at $132.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.92 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $141.64 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.21.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.