Vestcor Inc Trims Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Vestcor Inc reduced its position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 35.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,254 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 23,152 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $6,680,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Redwood Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth $1,424,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the first quarter worth about $895,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 44,398 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $7,019,000 after acquiring an additional 9,266 shares during the last quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% in the 4th quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $4,435,000 after purchasing an additional 7,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Williams-Sonoma by 10.6% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 17,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after buying an additional 1,673 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $215.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Zelman & Associates began coverage on Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. They issued an “underperform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.41.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.96, for a total transaction of $675,840.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 34,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,810,196.48. This trade represents a 10.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 996,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $163,825,013.91. The trade was a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,906,700 over the last quarter. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6%

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $187.13 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.02 billion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.45. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $166.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $173.59.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.76 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.67 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.35% and a return on equity of 52.79%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.