Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC Acquires 50,000 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 83.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 50,000 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma comprises about 1.3% of Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $17,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $381,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.1% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, 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 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush downgraded Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.83.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of WSM opened at $132.28 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.89, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.92 and a twelve month high of $174.26. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $145.18.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

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.