Absher Wealth Management LLC Has $512,000 Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Absher Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 97.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,306 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after buying an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Absher Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted 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 worth $31,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of WSM traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $134.30. 95,260 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,903,108. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.92 and a twelve month high of $174.26. The company has a market cap of $16.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.26, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $141.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $145.27.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at $2,040,099. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.83.

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.