CCM Investment Group LLC Takes Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

CCM Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 7,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,228,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $85,075,000. Cooper Financial Group grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 6,065 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $1,558,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth about $620,000. Finally, Cynosure Group LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 11.6% in the 1st quarter. Cynosure Group LLC now owns 1,852 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 192 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $199.68 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.03.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.90%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This trade represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price objective on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.41.

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.