Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Raises Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 102.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,988 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,511 shares during the quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $463,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $174.10 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $90.87 and a 52-week high of $181.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.76. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $144.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $145.01.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma 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 in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WSM. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 8th. 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 data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.41.

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.