Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC Increases Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 123.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,812 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the quarter. Benchmark Financial Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $436,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the first 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. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut 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 report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wedbush downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $150.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $139.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $134.90 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $17.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.66 and its 200 day moving average is $145.17. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $71.92 and a twelve month high of $174.26.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS 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 business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.69%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.