Michels Family Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Michels Family Financial LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,555 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $844,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Peak Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,009,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 16,526 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $3,060,000 after acquiring an additional 629 shares during the period. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $389,000. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 215.4% during the 4th quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 328,579 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $60,846,000 after acquiring an additional 224,397 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 47.4% in the 4th quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 6,460 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,196,000 after purchasing an additional 2,078 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $182.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $177.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% 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 915 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total transaction of $129,646.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $6,572,715.72. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 79,227 shares of company stock valued at $12,962,573 in the last 90 days. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM traded down $0.73 on Thursday, reaching $163.79. 1,100,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,033,637. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $156.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.89. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $20.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.39, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The business 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 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. 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 Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were issued a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.