Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $523,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 3,378 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $523,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 83.6% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,461 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,325,000 after buying an additional 9,771 shares during the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 97.9% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 751,735 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $116,459,000 after buying an additional 371,895 shares during the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $3,160,000. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 102.5% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 620,661 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $96,153,000 after acquiring an additional 314,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Isthmus Partners LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth approximately $532,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $172.02 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $92.55 and a twelve month high of $181.42. The stock has a market cap of $21.18 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $145.29.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $154.41.

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.