Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Acquires New Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 5,633 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $895,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on WSM. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.75.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,915 shares of company stock worth $6,990,946. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $174.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 837,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,217. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $163.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $174.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.48 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.