1,288 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Bought by Berkshire Bank

Berkshire Bank bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,288 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $239,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the last quarter. 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 purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after buying an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $211.72 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.76 and a twelve month high of $214.42. The firm has a market cap of $26.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $187.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $157.94.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The shares were 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 $8,228,767.32. This represents a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 88,160 shares of company stock valued at $15,129,352. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $163.16.

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.