Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders bought 12,346 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 365% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,653 put options.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, insider Monica Bhargava sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.14, for a total transaction of $2,663,938.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP David Randolph King sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.93, for a total value of $2,878,500.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 101,024 shares in the company, valued at $14,539,879.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Monica Bhargava sold 17,862 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.14, for a total value of $2,663,938.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 77,862 shares of company stock worth $11,913,039 in the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MCF Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth $32,000. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at about $45,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of WSM traded up $6.46 on Friday, reaching $160.04. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 632,589 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,073,036. Williams-Sonoma has a twelve month low of $62.11 and a twelve month high of $174.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $149.35 and a 200-day moving average of $132.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.58 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.75.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $2.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.65. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.83% and a return on equity of 54.50%. The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.65 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma will post 7.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, July 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on WSM shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $110.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $137.50 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $130.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $131.06.

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.