Jeffrey Howie Sells 36,312 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Jeffrey Howie also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 27th, Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $158.75 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $193.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.54. The stock has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 111 Capital purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $557,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 111.7% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 54,745 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $10,138,000 after buying an additional 28,880 shares during the period. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth about $1,111,000. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH now owns 1,396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $260,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on WSM shares. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.93.

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.