Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Raises Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 2.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $477,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Natixis Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,142,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 94.7% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 30,454 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,718,000 after purchasing an additional 14,816 shares during the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 68.5% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Commerce Bank grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,518,000 after purchasing an additional 5,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,481 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,173,000 after purchasing an additional 10,441 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0 %

WSM stock opened at $163.27 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $197.13 and a 200-day moving average of $172.60. The company has a market cap of $20.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.