ProShare Advisors LLC Sells 184,928 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

ProShare Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 42.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 248,104 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 184,928 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $45,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Wedmont Private Capital bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $403,000. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Paragon Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,473 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223 shares during the period. Finally, Retireful LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,564,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.1%

WSM stock opened at $171.81 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $156.87 and its 200-day moving average is $174.81. The company has a market cap of $21.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $125.33 and a twelve month high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.54%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total transaction of $627,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,590.64. This represents a 8.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.94.

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.