Mizuho Securities USA LLC Makes New $1.56 Million Investment in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• Mizuho Securities USA LLC has made a new investment in Williams-Sonoma, acquiring approximately $1.56 million in shares during the first quarter, purchasing a total of 9,857 shares.
• Insider transactions included notable sales by CFO Jeffrey Howie and CEO Laura Alber, with a total of 68,000 shares sold by corporate insiders recently, reflecting changes in ownership stakes.
• Analysts have set varying price targets for Williams-Sonoma, with the current consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

Mizuho Securities USA LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,857 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,558,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mariner LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the first quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm'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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. 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. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned 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, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $200.06 on Tuesday. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $172.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $24.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released 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. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.

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