Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Increases Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 314,935 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 11,359 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.26% of Williams-Sonoma worth $58,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 150.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 20,390 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,159,000 after acquiring an additional 12,237 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 79.9% in the 3rd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,556 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 691 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 51.7% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 14,416 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,915 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.4% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,189 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $959,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.87 during trading on Monday, reaching $146.38. 868,818 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,352,448. The stock has a market cap of $18.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $179.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.