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

Cynosure Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,403 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $372,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $114,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $500,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 3.1% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 2,746 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $776,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $154.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $171.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $145.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.38. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $90.87 and a 12 month high of $181.42.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

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.