Northern Trust Corp Sells 90,236 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Northern Trust Corp reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 4.7%, selling 90,236 shares, and now holds 1.81 million shares valued at approximately $286.5 million.
• Several other institutional investors, including Brighton Jones LLC and MML Investors Services LLC, have increased their positions in Williams-Sonoma in the last quarter, indicating strong investor interest.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66, representing an annual yield of 1.3%, with a payout ratio of 29.90%.

Northern Trust Corp cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,812,146 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 90,236 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned 1.47% of Williams-Sonoma worth $286,500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $214,000. MML Investors Services LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 6,808 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 61.6% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,305 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,353,000 after buying an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total transaction of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $199.2320 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.56, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $178.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.02. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%.The firm's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.48 EPS. Research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $180.18.

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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