Jones Financial Companies Lllp Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 132.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 3,695,837 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $326,931,000 after purchasing an additional 1,145,410 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $160,537,000 after purchasing an additional 792,068 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, February 28th. Telsey Advisory Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.28.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.5 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $188.83 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $117.13 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $201.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.00.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 26.98%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.