Victory Capital Management Inc. Purchases 44,911 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 31.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 186,605 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 44,911 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Williams-Sonoma worth $28,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,312,000 after buying an additional 1,629 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 39.6% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,383 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,250,000 after buying an additional 3,798 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $314,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $201,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush cut Williams-Sonoma from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three investment 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, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $139.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $12,525,126. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.5 %

NYSE:WSM traded up $3.24 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $133.89. The company had a trading volume of 2,744,138 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,924,238. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $141.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.52. The firm has a market cap of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $88.24 and a 52 week high of $174.26.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

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.