Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd lowered its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 24.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,423 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,084 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after buying an additional 4,901 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp now owns 12,000 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 93.2% during the 3rd quarter. Community Bank & Trust Waco Texas now owns 1,420 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $220,000 after purchasing an additional 685 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 31.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 186,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $28,909,000 after acquiring an additional 44,911 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $267,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Wedbush lowered shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.47.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $130.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $16.53 billion, a PE ratio of 15.72, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $79.18 and a 52 week high of $174.26. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.68.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.56 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. The trade was a 42.29 % 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 company insiders.

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.