Peak Retirement Planning Inc. Buys New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Peak Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 5,454 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,009,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WSM. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $1,424,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $20,251,000 after buying an additional 5,337 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $182.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 79,227 shares of company stock valued at $12,962,573. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WSM traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $164.41. The stock had a trading volume of 993,541 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,033,326. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $20.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.89.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its 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 return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Williams-Sonoma 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.