Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 203.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,996 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 2,677 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $740,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 53,835 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $15,201,000 after buying an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $927,000. Ascent Group LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 50.7% in the second quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.6% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 12,655 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,573,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 91.9% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 5,654 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,596,000 after purchasing an additional 2,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $1.10 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $217.80. 560,326 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,320,602. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $95.76 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The business has a fifty day moving average of $191.23 and a 200 day moving average of $159.15. The firm has a market cap of $26.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.80, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 88,160 shares of company stock worth $15,129,352 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.