Synovus Financial Corp Grows Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,291,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $758,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $142.63 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $176.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.54.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.85%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

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.