Cerity Partners LLC Purchases 1,269 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,228 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,442,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 120,720 shares of company stock worth $21,828,609 over the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $147.95 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.66. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.50, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio 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.