Activest Wealth Management Purchases 400 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Activest Wealth Management boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 800 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% during 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 lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Novare Capital Management LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Novare Capital Management LLC now owns 10,145 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,572,000 after buying an additional 4,132 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 105.0% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 173,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,897,000 after purchasing an additional 88,936 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 110.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 244,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,932,000 after acquiring an additional 128,523 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $142.59.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma 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 value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM traded down $4.10 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $170.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 86,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,954,451. The company has a market capitalization of $21.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.04, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $89.87 and a twelve month high of $181.42. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.55.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio 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.