Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. Invests $115,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 739 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $115,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 118.7% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,110,320 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,931,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145,410 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after acquiring an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 98.4% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 833,355 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $129,103,000 after acquiring an additional 413,226 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $232,613,000 after acquiring an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock opened at $171.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $21.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $90.87 and a 1-year high of $181.42. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $145.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.20.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 26.97%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value of $5,219,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This trade represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $116.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $154.41.

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.