Insider Selling: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Sells $627,120.00 in Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total value of $627,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 42,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. This represents a 8.62 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Jeffrey Howie also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, April 22nd, Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35.
• On Thursday, March 27th, Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48.
• On Thursday, February 27th, Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $160.71 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $19.85 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.64. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.64%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WSM. 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 research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $179.06.

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.