Western Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Western Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 7,189 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Mariner LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $643,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Bailard Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. This trade represents a 2.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.81.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $160.93 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $176.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.78 billion, a PE ratio of 19.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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