Pitcairn Co. Acquires 2,186 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Pitcairn Co. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 68.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,399 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,186 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $836,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quent Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $286,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 374.8% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $155,000 after purchasing an additional 386 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $208,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.3 %

WSM stock opened at $171.98 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $21.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $143.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.77. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.31 and a 12 month high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current year.

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 issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.