Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,350,000 shares, a decrease of 13.6% from the December 15th total of 11,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,020,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 990,956 shares in the company, valued at approximately $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total value of $560,552.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $8,228,767.32. The trade was a 6.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 165,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $46,743,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 823,692 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $232,613,000 after purchasing an additional 43,607 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the second quarter valued at $1,045,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 14,523 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $4,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,346 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $194.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $160.03.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $0.46 on Thursday, reaching $198.99. The company had a trading volume of 588,417 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,326,380. The firm has a market cap of $24.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $176.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $154.58. Williams-Sonoma has a 1 year low of $95.76 and a 1 year high of $200.85.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 21st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.97%.

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.