Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock Position Raised by Citigroup Inc.

Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 549,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 274,983 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned about 0.43% of Williams-Sonoma worth $85,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.41.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $171.88 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $143.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $144.74. The company has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $90.31 and a twelve month high of $181.42.

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 business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. 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.