Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Bought by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 244,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 128,523 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.19% of Williams-Sonoma worth $37,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WSM. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $130.65 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The business’s 50 day moving average is $141.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.50. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.49 and a 52 week high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.40%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.