Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Has $1.60 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 457.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,344 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,490 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,602,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSM. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of WSM opened at $195.63 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $153.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $147.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a PE ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.81. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.76 and a 12-month high of $198.70.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.97%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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 shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 83,160 shares of company stock worth $11,590,952 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WSM. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.41.

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.