Kaizen Financial Strategies Purchases New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Kaizen Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 2,080 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $329,000.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $49,000. AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Tobam bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.06.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were 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 directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,227 shares of company stock worth $17,892,473 in the last ninety days. 1.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $3.43 on Tuesday, reaching $161.65. 1,369,140 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,019,671. The stock has a market cap of $19.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $155.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $178.20.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. 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 1.63%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend 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.