Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Acquired by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 163.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 140,833 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 87,358 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.11% of Williams-Sonoma worth $21,818,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in WSM. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Clean Yield Group bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of WSM opened at $130.04 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $80.49 and a 52 week high of $174.26. The company has a market capitalization of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.76. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $141.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.68.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.