Congress Wealth Management LLC DE Has $4.06 Million Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Congress Wealth Management LLC DE lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,904 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 2,156 shares during the period. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,056,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. FMR LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $169.10 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $196.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.17. The stock has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.