3,922 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Purchased by Sierra Summit Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired 3,922 shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc., valued at approximately $620,000, in the first quarter, as disclosed in a recent SEC filing.
• Williams-Sonoma reported earnings of $1.85 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations, and achieved a net margin of 14.35% with revenue growth of 4.2% year-over-year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66, representing a 1.3% yield, with the ex-dividend date set for July 18th.

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,922 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $620,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 21.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,630,310 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,471,152,000 after purchasing an additional 2,797,562 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $352,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,389 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 31.0% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,076,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $170,267,000 after acquiring an additional 254,550 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $119,516,000 after acquiring an additional 24,741 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,272.6% in the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 512,846 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $81,081,000 after acquiring an additional 475,484 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.6%

WSM traded up $3.26 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $210.23. 2,179,707 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,938,646. The company has a market capitalization of $25.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.81, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.17.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.48 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.90%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $178.41.

Insider Activity

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

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.