Centric Wealth Management Purchases 625 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Centric Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,960 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after acquiring an additional 625 shares during the quarter. Centric Wealth Management’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,588,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Private Advisor Group LLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.3% in the fourth quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,425 shares during the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 12,050 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,431,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,851 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 171.0% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 696 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total transaction of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,364 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $154.00 to $263.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $245.00 to $275.00 in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $256.19.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $1.11 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $302.73. 254,057 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 988,545. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.44 and a 52-week high of $319.78. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $225.13.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.50 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be paid a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

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.