Romano Brothers AND Company Sells 9,975 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Romano Brothers AND Company trimmed its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 34.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,605 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 9,975 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,754,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% in the first quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares in the last quarter. Aviva PLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% in the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $2,140,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $56,712,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $303,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth approximately $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded down $5.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $288.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 797,801 shares, compared to its average volume of 996,232. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $319.78. The company has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.82, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.70. The firm's 50-day moving average is $261.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $209.20.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. The business's revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is presently 24.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on WSM. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $300.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $249.31.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 6,966 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 61,145 shares of company stock valued at $16,220,619. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.