Van ECK Associates Corp Grows Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 34,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,324,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. FMR LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after buying an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $825,588,000 after purchasing an additional 2,777,339 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $418,223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $171,239,000 after acquiring an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of WSM opened at $214.88 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.45 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $198.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $163.96. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.74 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.06%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,228,767.32. This trade represents a 6.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $172.34.

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.