Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP lowered its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,954,483 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 181,963 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 1.59% of Williams-Sonoma worth $361,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. ORG Partners LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WSM has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday, April 4th. Finally, UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $139.04 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $17.17 billion, a PE ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $172.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.10.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.