Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 4,808 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 1.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 310,127 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 4,808 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.25% of Williams-Sonoma worth $49,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,248,000 after purchasing an additional 1,236 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,676 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $496,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $55,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 9,900 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,833,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded down $1.53 on Friday, hitting $174.97. The stock had a trading volume of 837,573 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,968,217. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $163.83 and a 200 day moving average of $174.84. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.45.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,990,946 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma 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.