U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 12,607 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,993,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $33,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $35,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 246 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. Zelman & Associates began coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.75.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $3.58 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $177.31. 300,665 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,056,731. The business's 50 day moving average is $163.12 and its 200-day moving average is $175.08. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.45.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.48 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.49%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.90%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, 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 value of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,915 shares of company stock worth $6,990,946. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.