Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Position Boosted by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 446,708 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,135 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $79,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WSM. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,341,000. Danske Bank A S grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 49,102 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $8,769,000 after buying an additional 3,800 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $247,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,370 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,138,000 after buying an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $213,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 2,267 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $192.49, for a total transaction of $436,374.83. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 23,351 shares in the company, valued at $4,494,833.99. The trade was a 8.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $3,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 958,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,704,800. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 71,370 shares of company stock valued at $13,268,623 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research note on Monday, April 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $188.00 to $208.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $209.56.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $175.81 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $147.39 and a 1-year high of $222.00. The company has a market capitalization of $20.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.49. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $189.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $192.94.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.41 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 13.94%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.28 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.2 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.76 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.83%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.