Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Has $5.59 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC trimmed its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 30,180 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 496 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $5,589,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $158.75 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $193.93 and its 200 day moving average is $173.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 1.66%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.