Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $28.91 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 31.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 186,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,911 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $28,909,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after acquiring an additional 43,607 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 37.5% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 704,919 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $223,833,000 after acquiring an additional 192,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 64.3% during the third quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 442,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $68,601,000 after acquiring an additional 173,223 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $130.65 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $16.51 billion, a PE ratio of 15.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $80.49 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $141.35 and a 200-day moving average of $144.50.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other 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 in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on WSM. Wedbush lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.47.

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.