Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 12,483 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Wells Fargo & Company MN trimmed its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,878 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 12,483 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $56,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Westmount Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $477,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE:WSM opened at $139.41 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $173.77. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. This represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

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.