Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 8,785 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 39.5%, selling 8,785 shares and owning 13,444 shares valued at $2,125,000 at the end of the reporting period.
• CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares for over $5 million, reducing her ownership by 3.01%, while CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares, leading to a 10.42% decrease in their stake.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, with a yield of 1.3%, set to be paid on August 22nd to investors of record as of July 18th.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 39.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,444 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 8,785 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,125,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% in the first quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total value of $5,045,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. This represents a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6%

NYSE WSM opened at $199.53 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average is $170.63 and its 200-day moving average is $173.64. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $24.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors 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 1.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.41.

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.

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