Atom Investors LP Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Atom Investors LP grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 311.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,003 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 13,632 shares during the quarter. Atom Investors LP's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,789,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $416,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 403.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,045 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 9,651 shares during the period. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 81.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 3,348 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.2% during the first quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 19,344 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $6,106,000 after buying an additional 4,250 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 24.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 789 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $223,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $2.00 on Tuesday, hitting $179.38. The stock had a trading volume of 481,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,964,800. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $146.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $145.43. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $94.63 and a one year high of $181.42. The stock has a market cap of $22.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.81.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $154.41.

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.