Centric Wealth Management Lowers Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Centric Wealth Management decreased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,482 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 247 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma makes up approximately 1.2% of Centric Wealth Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $46,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.05 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $193.04 and a 200 day moving average of $173.97. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $19.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.