CapWealth Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 15,238 Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

CapWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 15,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,075,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,413 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $530,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 2,643 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded up $3.60 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $284.64. 335,360 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,029,395. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $266.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $211.90. The company has a market cap of $18.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.59%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 over the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is 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.