Archer Investment Corp Sells 300 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Archer Investment Corp lowered its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,315 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $429,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after purchasing an additional 4,901 shares in the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WSM. Citigroup lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $210.91 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $194.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.16. The company has a market cap of $25.96 billion, a PE ratio of 24.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.79. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.68 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 88,160 shares of company stock valued at $15,129,352. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.