Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Holdings Decreased by West Coast Financial LLC

West Coast Financial LLC cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 49.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,233 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 30,121 shares during the quarter. West Coast Financial LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,938,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $1,424,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $4,435,000 after acquiring an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $58,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $723,000 after acquiring an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Telsey Advisory Group dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $182.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE WSM traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $157.79. 1,291,913 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,011,426. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $155.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.27. The company has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.90%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company's stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $6,572,715.72. This trade represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.