EP Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,429 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $265,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $49,000. Tobam purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Williams-Sonoma news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.78, for a total transaction of $627,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 42,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,590.64. This trade represents a 8.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,826,041.72. This trade represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 80,635 shares of company stock valued at $13,236,175 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.4%

WSM stock opened at $174.58 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $157.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.56. The stock has a market cap of $21.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $125.33 and a 52-week high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays increased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $175.94.

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.