Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 98.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 57,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,395 shares during the quarter. Williams-Sonoma makes up about 1.6% of Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $8,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 659.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 531,304 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $82,309,000 after purchasing an additional 461,361 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,103,000 after purchasing an additional 413,226 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 536.3% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 383,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $108,345,000 after buying an additional 323,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,150 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $171.88 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $90.31 and a 52 week high of $181.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.76.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.97%.

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.