Clearstead Trust LLC Trims Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Clearstead Trust LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 21.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 264 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 71 shares during the period. Clearstead Trust LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $42,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,283,000 after buying an additional 249,389 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $119,516,000 after purchasing an additional 24,741 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $81,081,000 after purchasing an additional 475,484 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,148,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 7.0%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $200.79 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $24.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.74, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.47. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.25. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.90%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.