Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Boosts Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,257 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $220,000. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth about $4,102,000. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 11.5% during the 3rd quarter. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC now owns 20,711 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 2,128 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 425.3% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 78,060 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,751,000 after purchasing an additional 63,200 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $3,632,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WSM traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, reaching $282.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 484,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,698. The company has a fifty day moving average of $275.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $217.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 31.02%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Williams-Sonoma from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.