Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 25,237 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,430,924 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 25,237 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned 2.23% of Williams-Sonoma worth $288,732,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.3% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,276 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $661,000 after acquiring an additional 13,425 shares in the last quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 12,050 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $2,431,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 15,851 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 805 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $202,000. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 171.0% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 1,103 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Williams-Sonoma from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $245.00 to $275.00 in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,140,909.43. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded up $13.65 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $318.57. 755,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 988,671. The stock has a market cap of $20.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $109.44 and a twelve month high of $319.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $286.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $225.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

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.