6,000 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM Purchased by Chase Investment Counsel Corp

Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 6,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,398,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in 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 worth $8,703,000 after acquiring an additional 45,278 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 87,642 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $801,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $1,173,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 294,598 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $52,612,000 after purchasing an additional 56,578 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. Morgan Stanley set a $210.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. KeyCorp upped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Seaport Research Partners reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. Argus set a $230.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, May 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $261.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $231.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total value of $3,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 923,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,704,800. This trade represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 1,112 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $228.49, for a total value of $254,080.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,717 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,962,117.33. This trade represents a 4.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 18,156 shares of company stock worth $3,738,699 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE:WSM opened at $241.33 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $28.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.50. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $254.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $229.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $206.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 21st. The specialty retailer reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.80 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 53.29%. The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.85 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 21st. Investors of record on Friday, July 17th will be given a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.04%.

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.