Heck Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $37,000 Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WSM. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 42.0% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $258,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 4,948 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $483,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $166.52 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $156.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $176.98. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.69, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.48 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is owned by 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.