Insider Selling: Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Sells 40,000 Shares of Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.27, for a total transaction of $5,810,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,030,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $149,766,978.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Laura Alber also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, July 15th, Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.45, for a total transaction of $6,258,000.00.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE WSM opened at $150.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $142.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $145.04. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $69.95 and a 12 month high of $174.26. The company has a market cap of $18.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.74.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 51.57%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 27.99%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $135.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $141.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,129,000. Creekside Partners acquired a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter valued at $404,000. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 12,786 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,610,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Truist Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 153,491 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $43,341,000 after buying an additional 6,945 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 865 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

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.