Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 8,427 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 66,559 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,427 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $12,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5,019.6% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 89,388 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $15,964,000 after buying an additional 87,642 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,844.3% during the first quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 47,733 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,703,000 after acquiring an additional 45,278 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 972,810 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $174,473,000 after acquiring an additional 89,779 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 294,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,612,000 after acquiring an additional 56,578 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $1,173,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $192.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, June 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $208.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $212.65.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.9%

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $2.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $221.80. The stock had a trading volume of 1,001,268 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,206,597. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $206.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $200.04. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $161.76 and a 1 year high of $244.65. The stock has a market cap of $26.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.49.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.29% and a net margin of 13.81%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.85 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 17th. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.17%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 923,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $184,704,800. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total transaction of $254,080.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 51,634 shares of company stock valued at $9,812,283. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams?Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi?brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher?end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.