Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie Sells 3,045 Shares

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,045 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $220.61, for a total transaction of $671,757.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 34,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,531,184.18. The trade was a 8.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.4%

NYSE:WSM traded up $5.16 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $224.08. 2,727,938 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,159,980. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.74. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $165.51 and a fifty-two week high of $254.89. The company has a market capitalization of $26.39 billion, a PE ratio of 22.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 26th. The specialty retailer reported $2.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.02. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 53.48% and a net margin of 14.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 16th will be issued a $0.76 dividend. This represents a $3.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 16th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $261.00 price target (up from $230.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Telsey Advisory Group set a $260.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $261.00 price target on Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $245.56.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,534 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 11.1% in the 1st quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 622 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 11,262 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 3,203 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $584,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,972 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $926,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

Williams-Sonoma, Inc is a specialty retailer focused on high-quality home furnishings, housewares and lifestyle products. The company sells furniture, bedding, bath goods, lighting, rugs, window treatments, home décor, kitchen equipment, cookware, tabletop products, outdoor furnishings and related accessories through e-commerce platforms, catalogs and retail stores.

The company operates a portfolio of brands that includes Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids, Pottery Barn Teen, West Elm, Mark & Graham and Rejuvenation.