Foster & Motley Inc. Lowers Stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Foster & Motley Inc. cut its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,468 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 80 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. MCF Advisors LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 129.3% in the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 188 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth about $32,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 820.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 230 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Williams-Sonoma 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total transaction of $330,973.70. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219 in the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.1 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $280.38 on Tuesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.44 and a 12-month high of $319.78. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $270.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $215.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. 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 1.61%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 31.02%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $315.00 to $300.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $330.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $248.06.

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.