Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI Acquires 1,796 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 26.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,712 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,796 shares during the quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the last quarter. Aviva PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $56,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $292,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $249.31.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total transaction of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 43,329 shares of company stock valued at $10,729,906. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.9 %

WSM stock traded down $6.14 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $308.79. 264,547 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,057,229. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.61, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $244.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.66. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.46%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.71%.

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.