Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires 1,818 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 4.4% in the first quarter, owning 42,722 shares valued at approximately $6.76 million.
• Williams-Sonoma reported earnings of $1.85 per share for the last quarter, exceeding analysts' expectations of $1.76, along with a 4.2% year-over-year increase in revenue.
• Insiders, including the CEO and CFO, sold a combined total of 68,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in the last three months, representing a notable decrease in their ownership stakes.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 4.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,722 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 1,818 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.2%

NYSE WSM traded down $2.40 during trading on Friday, reaching $203.04. 1,036,462 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,294,163. The firm has a market cap of $24.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $176.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.00. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid 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 yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were 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 directly owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an "underperform" rating for the company. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $182.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered 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 research report on Tuesday, June 17th. One research 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 company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.18.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.