Laura Alber Sells 15,000 Shares of Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $3,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 958,524 shares in the company, valued at $191,704,800. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, March 16th, Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.04, for a total transaction of $3,660,800.00.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $202.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,143,088 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,091,350. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $139.42 and a one year high of $222.00. The company has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $193.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $192.99.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 18th. The specialty retailer reported $3.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.14. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 13.94% and a return on equity of 51.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.41 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.28 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.19 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 17th will be paid a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.83%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WSM. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $185.00 to $218.00 in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $186.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $225.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $206.00 to $214.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.56.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $227,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth about $1,644,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 9.0% in the second quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 4,153 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $678,000 after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.9% in the second quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,631 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $757,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams‑Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on the home and culinary markets, best known for premium cookware, kitchen tools and home furnishings. The company traces its roots to a single cookware store founded by Chuck Williams in 1956 in Sonoma, California, and has evolved into a multi‑brand home furnishings and housewares business. Its merchandise mix spans cookware and kitchen electrics, tabletop and food prep items, furniture, bedding, lighting and decorative accessories designed for both everyday use and higher‑end interiors.

The company operates a portfolio of consumer brands that target distinct segments of the home market.