Insider Selling: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Sells 45,000 Shares of Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Friday, November 15th, Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE WSM traded down $0.32 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $211.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,085,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,036. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $184.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.87. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $95.76 and a twelve month high of $212.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.79.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 26.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on WSM shares. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $145.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $163.16.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 186.0% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,167,000 after acquiring an additional 4,901 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 97.1% during the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,167 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 38,512 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $5,966,000 after acquiring an additional 8,237 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.