Swiss National Bank Has $59.15 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 111.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 381,800 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 201,000 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.30% of Williams-Sonoma worth $59,148,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Finally, Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on 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 decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued 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 $138.84.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $37.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $175.04. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,422,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,704. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.63 and a 12 month high of $181.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $141.53 and a 200 day moving average of $144.33. The company has a market capitalization of $22.11 billion, a PE ratio of 20.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 27.39%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is 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.