Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber Sells 30,000 Shares

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

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

• On Tuesday, January 21st, Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.4 %

NYSE:WSM traded down $5.67 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $158.75. 2,284,175 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,982,330. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $194.81 and its 200-day moving average is $173.06. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WSM. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

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.