HB Wealth Management LLC Increases Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Key Points

• HB Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 63.6%, owning 4,709 shares valued at approximately $745,000 at the close of the last reporting period.
• Insider selling included CEO Laura Alber selling 30,000 shares worth nearly $4.93 million, decreasing her ownership by 2.92%.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on the stock, with several target price adjustments, while the consensus rating remains a "Hold" with an average target price of $178.41.

HB Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 63.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,709 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after buying an additional 1,830 shares during the period. HB Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $745,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays set a $166.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $178.41.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE:WSM traded up $0.63 on Friday, reaching $187.68. 1,407,308 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,114,524. The firm has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 1.47. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $167.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.62.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the business earned $3.48 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total value of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. This represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.18, for a total transaction of $5,045,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 966,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $162,617,782.86. The trade was a 3.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580. 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.