Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 48.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,406 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 6,117 shares during the quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,014,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $176.75.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WSM
Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma
In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 42,915 shares of company stock valued at $6,990,946 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance
Shares of WSM stock traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $175.78. 408,314 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,965,262. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $163.54 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $175.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.62 billion, a PE ratio of 19.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.45.
Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.48 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.
Williams-Sonoma Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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