Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Has $2.22 Million Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• Mediolanum International Funds Ltd reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 61.2%, selling 21,992 shares in the first quarter, which left the fund with 13,972 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million.
• CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma for over $5 million, resulting in a 3.01% decrease in her ownership, while CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares, decreasing his holdings by 10.42%.
• Williams-Sonoma's quarterly earnings exceeded expectations, reporting $1.85 earnings per share against an estimated $1.76, and the company announced a $0.66 quarterly dividend.

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 61.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,972 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 21,992 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,221,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $41,793,000 after purchasing an additional 262,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $352,283,000 after purchasing an additional 249,389 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $187.34. The stock had a trading volume of 484,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,962,509. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.04 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

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.