Center For Asset Management LLC Sells 68 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Center For Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,890 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Center For Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third 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 during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd 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 stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE WSM opened at $213.91 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $187.30 and a 200 day simple moving average of $157.86. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $95.76 and a 12 month high of $214.42.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on WSM. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.16.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders have sold 88,160 shares of company stock worth $15,129,352. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.