Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC Has $402,000 Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 48.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,540 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 2,408 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $49,000. Tobam bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $55,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE WSM traded up $0.30 on Friday, reaching $158.28. The company had a trading volume of 772,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,008,099. The stock has a market cap of $19.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The stock's 50 day moving average is $155.87 and its 200-day moving average is $178.13. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on WSM. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $182.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.06.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.