SFE Investment Counsel Sells 12,668 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

SFE Investment Counsel lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 31.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,018 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,668 shares during the quarter. SFE Investment Counsel's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $757,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 1st quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 1,463 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WSM shares. 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. Baird R W upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Zelman & Associates assumed coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an "underperform" rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of WSM stock traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $181.80. 818,197 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,202,717. The company has a market capitalization of $22.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $165.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.94.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.45%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma 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 value of $4,929,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares in the company, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,906,700. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

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.