First Long Island Investors LLC Has $26.75 Million Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

First Long Island Investors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 99.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,683 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 86,078 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma makes up 2.1% of First Long Island Investors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. First Long Island Investors LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Williams-Sonoma worth $26,752,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $389,000 after buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $381,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on WSM shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup dropped 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $130.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,885,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,920,463. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $141.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $144.58. The company has a market capitalization of $16.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $80.49 and a twelve month high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.56 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.75%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.