Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Bought by Prudential PLC

Key Points

• Prudential PLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 23.4% in Q1, now owning about 0.07% of the company worth $13.35 million.
• Insider sales include CFO Jeffrey Howie selling 4,000 shares and CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares, reflecting a decrease in their ownership of the company stock.
• Williams-Sonoma reported a quarterly earnings growth with a net margin of 14.35% and a forecasted EPS of 8.36 for the current fiscal year.

Prudential PLC increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 23.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,461 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 16,017 shares during the period. Prudential PLC owned about 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma worth $13,353,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 966,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business'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 value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% 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 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on 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. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $180.18.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM traded down $4.50 during trading on Thursday, hitting $205.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,340,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,294,441. 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 cap of $25.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 1.47. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $175.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.38.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 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 was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. 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 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

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.