Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT Purchases 156 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT grew its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,257 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC UT’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $282.16. The stock had a trading volume of 484,459 shares, compared to its average volume of 810,698. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $275.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $217.72. The stock has a market cap of $18.13 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $109.44 and a 12 month high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm 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%. The business’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.50 EPS. Analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.60%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.