Advisors Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. decreased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,339 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 142 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,766,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Smithfield Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 160 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at $196,263,808.16. This represents a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $165.29 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $20.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.55, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $125.33 and a fifty-two week high of $219.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $197.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $171.83.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.13.

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.