Jeffrey Howie Sells 915 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Jeffrey Howie also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, March 27th, Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48.
• On Thursday, February 27th, Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 3.7 %

NYSE:WSM opened at $151.29 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $167.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.90. The company has a market cap of $18.69 billion, a PE ratio of 17.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.30%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on WSM. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, April 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $178.93.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $290,121,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $91,779,000 after purchasing an additional 493,146 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at $87,148,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $183,273,000 after purchasing an additional 386,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% 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.