Western Wealth Management LLC Sells 174 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Western Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,752 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 174 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,362,000 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. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Quarry LP grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 229.8% in the 1st quarter. Quarry LP now owns 277 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WSM stock opened at $279.30 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $269.32 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $213.24. The company has a market capitalization of $17.95 billion, a PE ratio of 19.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.70. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.62%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.02%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock worth $12,182,219 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $248.06.

About Williams-Sonoma

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.