Sanctuary Advisors LLC Purchases 21,066 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 97.0% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,789 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,066 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $7,359,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after buying an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after buying an additional 565,745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 83,160 shares of company stock worth $11,590,952. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.2 %

NYSE WSM opened at $195.63 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.81. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.76 and a twelve month high of $198.70. The business’s fifty day moving average is $153.19 and its 200 day moving average is $147.96.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

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.