Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Buys New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $893,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after buying an additional 12,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $188.83 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $23.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, 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 $201.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.00. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $117.13 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.98%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $173.28.

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.