Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Shares Sold by MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC

MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 23.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,148 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. MainStreet Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $583,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,902,382 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $352,283,000 after buying an additional 249,389 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,121,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 64.1% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 989,700 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $183,273,000 after buying an additional 386,500 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 645,402 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $119,516,000 after buying an additional 24,741 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 563,058 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $104,267,000 after buying an additional 31,754 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $174.58 on Wednesday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $125.33 and a one year high of $219.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $157.49 and a 200-day moving average of $174.56. The company has a market capitalization of $21.46 billion, a PE ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.57.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a $0.66 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on WSM. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, April 4th. KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wedbush decreased their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $175.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. This trade represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 915 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.69, for a total value of $129,646.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,572,715.72. This represents a 1.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 80,635 shares of company stock worth $13,236,175. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.