Valeo Financial Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Valeo Financial Advisors LLC cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,615 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 863.6% during the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 212 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Denali Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 229.8% during the first quarter. Quarry LP now owns 277 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 2,184 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $313.98, for a total value of $685,732.32. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,364 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,185,328.72. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last three months. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on WSM shares. Loop Capital increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $260.00 to $320.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $249.31.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.1 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $288.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $263.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.51. The company has a market capitalization of $18.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.69. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.44 and a 52 week high of $319.78.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The firm had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The firm’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.50 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of $1.13 per share. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.71%.

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.