Truist Financial Corp Raises Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Truist Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 358,242 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 18,066 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp owned about 0.29% of Williams-Sonoma worth $56,638,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,424,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $7,019,000 after purchasing an additional 9,266 shares during the period. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in 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 valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded up $4.23 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $173.44. 623,003 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,067,685. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.64, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.45. The company's 50-day moving average is $162.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $175.09.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 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 business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.