Laura Alber Sells 40,000 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,030,956 shares in the company, valued at $149,766,978.12. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 15th, Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total value of $6,258,000.00.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $150.08 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $69.95 and a one year high of $174.26. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $142.16 and its 200-day moving average is $145.04. The firm has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The business had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.56 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 27.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 964,910 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $272,462,000 after acquiring an additional 214,669 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted 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 purchasing an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 2.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 785,457 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $249,406,000 after purchasing an additional 18,358 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 785,143 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $158,426,000 after buying an additional 72,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $152,843,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WSM. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $141.17.

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.