Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Seven Mile Advisory

Seven Mile Advisory reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 229 shares during the period. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $97,875,000 after purchasing an additional 172,409 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth about $1,958,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

WSM opened at $158.75 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $193.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.44 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on WSM. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Wedbush dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.93.

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.