Plato Investment Management Ltd Lowers Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 24.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,423 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 1,084 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

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

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Barclays lowered their target price 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.47.

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.