RFG Advisory LLC Trims Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

RFG Advisory LLC lessened its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.0% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,452 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 142 shares during the quarter. RFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $546,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth about $55,000. Finally, Tobam purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter valued at $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on WSM. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Barclays set a $166.00 target price on Williams-Sonoma and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wedbush decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of WSM opened at $157.79 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.66, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $155.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $178.27.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.67%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.90%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,227 shares of company stock worth $18,520,913. 1.10% of the stock is 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.