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

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

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. UMB Bank n.a. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 57.8% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 841 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,540 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $285,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. Simon Quick Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 42.0% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,679 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,607,000 after purchasing an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $378,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 5.5%

Shares of WSM stock traded up $8.67 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $166.52. 2,573,252 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,038,397. The company has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $156.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $177.05. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 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.