Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Buys New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 2,244 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in 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 valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Telsey Advisory Group raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM traded up $7.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $214.88. 1,126,836 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,216,403. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.74 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $198.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.96.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % 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 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.