Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Key Points

• Vestcor Inc significantly reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 35.4% during the 1st quarter, leaving it with 42,254 shares valued at approximately $6.68 million.
• Insiders have sold a total of 72,000 shares of the company's stock valued at about $11.91 million over the last quarter, indicating a decrease in management ownership.
• Williams-Sonoma recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, set to be paid on August 22nd, with a current yield of 1.41%.

Vestcor Inc trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 35.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 42,254 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 23,152 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,680,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 475,484 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,148,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $183,273,000 after acquiring an additional 386,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 16,087.6% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 264,343 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $41,793,000 after acquiring an additional 262,710 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $352,283,000 after acquiring an additional 249,389 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays set a $166.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Evercore ISI dropped 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. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $182.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM traded up $0.63 on Friday, reaching $187.68. 1,407,308 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,114,524. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.62.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given 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 1.4%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 29th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,279,580. 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.