Perpetual Ltd Invests $243,000 in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Perpetual Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 1,536 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at about $33,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% during the 1st 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $164.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.59, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $159.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $175.95. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $120.00 and a 12 month high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.48 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $628,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,388 shares in the company, valued at $6,031,138.68. This trade represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,915 shares of company stock worth $7,527,346 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on shares of 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 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.

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