Valley National Advisers Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Valley National Advisers Inc. lowered its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 84.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,168 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 6,527 shares during the quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $183,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Sentry Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $32,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $33,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 123.6% during the 1st 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. Finally, Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on WSM. Wedbush reduced their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Barclays set a $166.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.75.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,915 shares of company stock worth $7,527,346 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.6%

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $5.83 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $169.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,425,855 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,979,319. The stock's 50 day moving average is $160.13 and its 200 day moving average is $175.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.81 billion, a PE ratio of 19.16, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.48.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 52.79% and a net margin of 14.35%. Williams-Sonoma's revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. 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.