Prudential PLC Sells 9,392 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Prudential PLC trimmed its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,444 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 9,392 shares during the period. Prudential PLC owned approximately 0.06% of Williams-Sonoma worth $12,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of WSM. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% in the third quarter. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC now owns 236 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Kozak & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $176.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of WSM opened at $141.94 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $188.18 and its 200-day moving average is $173.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $9,014,116.16. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma 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.