Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 10,602 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 19.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 42,831 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 10,602 shares during the quarter. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,931,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. FMR LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $173.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $187.50 on Thursday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.13 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $201.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.16. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a PE ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.22%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.