Blue Trust Inc. Has $228,000 Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 6.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,233 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 86 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901 shares during the period. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% in the third quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% in the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $5,966,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% in the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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 report on Friday, November 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $172.34.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $213.61 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $200.43 and a 200-day moving average of $165.34. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.74 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $26.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.98%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma 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 owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,228,767.32. This 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.

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.