3,683 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Acquired by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 3,683 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $682,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares during the period. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $193.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.97.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 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.