Boothbay Fund Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Boothbay Fund Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 37.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 26,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 15,376 shares during the quarter. Boothbay Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $49,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on WSM. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. KeyCorp upgraded Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Baird R W raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $179.06.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 76,635 shares of company stock valued at $12,609,055. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $151.24 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $165.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.11. The company has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year 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 for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders 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 1.75%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.