Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 391 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Valley National Advisers Inc. decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 10,364 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 391 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 7.9% during the 1st quarter. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can now owns 46,227 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,915,000 after acquiring an additional 3,373 shares during the period. Aviva PLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 9.7% during the first quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 14,762 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,140,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.3% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 391,118 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $56,712,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares in the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1,415.9% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 2,092 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $292,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:WSM traded up $0.24 during trading on Monday, reaching $309.65. 222,358 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,040,783. The business’s fifty day moving average is $251.97 and its 200-day moving average is $204.32. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.44 and a 52-week high of $319.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.71%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total value of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 525,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total transaction of $5,490,713.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 68,597 shares in the company, valued at $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total value of $4,038,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 525,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,110,777.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 61,145 shares of company stock worth $16,220,619 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

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.