Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 175,657 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. $WSM

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. by 11% during Q1, now holding shares valued at approximately $225.40 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Williams-Sonoma, with KeyCorp upgrading the stock to "overweight" and setting a target price of $181.00, while Goldman Sachs decreased its target from $201.00 to $174.00.
• Williams-Sonoma announced a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, translating to an annualized payout of $2.64, marking a 1.3% dividend yield for shareholders.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 11.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,425,763 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 175,657 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 1.16% of Williams-Sonoma worth $225,404,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.3% during the 1st quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 482 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,791 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $757,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,159 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $215.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective 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 Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $180.18.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 996,927 shares of the company's stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. This represents a 2.92% 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 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 value of $675,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,810,196.48. The trade was a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,000 shares of company stock worth $11,279,580 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.10% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of WSM traded down $2.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $196.82. 1,093,126 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,911,258. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.29, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.47. The business's 50-day moving average price is $178.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.02.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is 29.90%.

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.