Boston Trust Walden Corp Acquires 173,223 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Boston Trust Walden Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 64.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 442,815 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 173,223 shares during the quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp owned 0.35% of Williams-Sonoma worth $68,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $389,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.3% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 1,199 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $381,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wedbush cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $140.83.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:WSM traded down $2.76 on Friday, hitting $134.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,617,431 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,913,047. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $71.56 and a one year high of $174.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $142.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $145.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.39%.

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.