Planned Solutions Inc. Invests $97,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Planned Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 480 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $97,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after buying an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Aviva PLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $303,000 after buying an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $10,044,174 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.9 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $314.18 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.66. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $237.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $195.61. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $317.65.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.44%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 24.71%.

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.