Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Invests $610,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 3,025 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. AE Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth approximately $275,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth approximately $153,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 39.4% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,860 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,309,000 after buying an additional 4,200 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $248.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of WSM stock traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $282.16. The stock had a trading volume of 484,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,698. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $275.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $218.13.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.02%.

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.