Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by American Money Management LLC

American Money Management LLC cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,942 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,026,000 after acquiring an additional 9,509 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,251,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $97,875,000 after buying an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $58,616,000 after buying an additional 3,200 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,958,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.4 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.75 on Friday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $125.33 and a 1 year high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $193.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.54.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. The business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.54% and a return on equity of 51.56%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.44 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is an increase 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 is 29.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an “outperform” rating and set a $230.00 price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total value of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total value of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.