Boothbay Fund Management LLC Sells 15,376 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 37.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,225 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 15,376 shares during the period. Boothbay Fund Management LLC's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of WSM. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 101.9% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,103 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $791,000 after buying an additional 2,576 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 140.0% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 660 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $23,123,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 457.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 10,344 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $1,602,000 after purchasing an additional 8,490 shares during the period. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 137.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 4,382 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $679,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 76,635 shares of company stock worth $12,609,055 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $179.06.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded up $5.25 during trading on Friday, reaching $161.07. The company had a trading volume of 672,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,054,443. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $161.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.18. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The company has a market capitalization of $19.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.05, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.44 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.64%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

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.