Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Trims Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• The Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund has reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 14.5%, now holding 29,600 shares worth approximately $4.68 million.
• Insider transactions reveal that CFO Jeffrey Howie and CEO Laura Alber sold significant portions of their shares, contributing to a total of 68,000 shares sold over the last 90 days.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Williams-Sonoma, with price targets ranging from $160 to $205, indicating a consensus rating of "Hold" along with forecasts showing a potential 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 29,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 5,000 shares during the quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,680,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $35,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.18.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.2%

NYSE WSM opened at $203.04 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $176.00 and a 200-day moving average of $173.00. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.

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