Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Purchased by Abacus FCF Advisors LLC

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 46.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,564 shares during the quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Benjamin Edwards Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth about $369,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 122.7% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 392 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 147.7% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 26,511 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,107,000 after buying an additional 15,807 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at $387,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of WSM opened at $145.01 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $186.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.08. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.15, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 EPS. Analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.82%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.