Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $2.60 Million Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 64.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,468 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 29,818 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,079,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Bailard Inc. increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 2,575 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 6,969 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Baird R W upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Zelman & Associates initiated coverage on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. They set an “underperform” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE WSM opened at $153.93 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $156.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $177.68. The company has a market capitalization of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.48 EPS. Williams-Sonoma’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.72%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insider Activity

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock valued at $18,520,913 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.