Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Sells 15,155 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 58.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,600 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 15,155 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth $43,000. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 50,915 shares of company stock valued at $8,203,186. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of WSM stock traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $173.06. 746,331 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,975,351. The company has a market capitalization of $21.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.60, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $162.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $175.34.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on WSM shares. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $176.75.

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.