Insider Selling: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Sells 40,000 Shares of Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total value 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. The trade was a 3.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, September 16th, Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total value of $5,810,800.00.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $3.24 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $133.89. 2,744,138 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,924,238. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.24 and a 52-week high of $174.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.76. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.35 and its 200 day moving average price is $144.52.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 27.39%.

Institutional Trading of Williams-Sonoma

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19.7% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $114,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 28.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 7,281 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,312,000 after acquiring an additional 1,629 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 39.6% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 13,383 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,250,000 after acquiring an additional 3,798 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at $314,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter worth $201,000. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. TD Cowen boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Barclays cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $232.00 to $116.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $139.47.

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.