E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB Reduces Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB trimmed its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,900 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. E. Ohman J or Asset Management AB’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Portside Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 45.7% in the 1st quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.2% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,656 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,210,000 after buying an additional 517 shares during the period. Czech National Bank acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth approximately $4,470,000. Finally, Kaizen Financial Strategies purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth approximately $329,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $157.79 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $155.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $178.29. The stock has a market cap of $19.41 billion, a PE ratio of 18.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were paid 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 of this dividend was Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on 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. UBS Group decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group lowered their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $182.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913 in the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.