Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Bought by Bangor Savings Bank

Bangor Savings Bank lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 99.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,270 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 247.8% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 8,343 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,683,000 after purchasing an additional 5,944 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,426,000 after acquiring an additional 72,843 shares during the period. Connectus Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $1,818,000. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $2,208,000. Finally, Syverson Strege & Co acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.17.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $149.55 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $19.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 1.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $71.56 and a 1 year high of $174.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $146.81.

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

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 28.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total value of $6,258,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,070,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,551,066.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total transaction of $6,258,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,070,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $167,551,066.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’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 value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock valued at $13,563,526. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.