Planning Capital Management Corp Purchases New Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Planning Capital Management Corp purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 326 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% during the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 200 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $130.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $79.18 and a fifty-two week high of $174.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $141.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $144.68.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.74%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.39%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. This trade represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This trade represents a 42.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $148.00 to $156.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.47.

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.