State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

State of Alaska Department of Revenue increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 34.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,424 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,015 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $49,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 1.0%

WSM stock opened at $158.83 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $157.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.02. The stock has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 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 period in the previous year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.11, for a total transaction of $628,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 38,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,031,138.68. This trade represents a 9.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock valued at $18,520,913. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.

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