Laura Alber Sells 20,000 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSMGet Free Report) CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

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

  • On Tuesday, January 16th, Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $201.92, for a total value of $4,038,400.00.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $295.05 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 1.66. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $226.61 and its 200-day moving average is $189.71. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a one year low of $109.44 and a one year high of $296.07.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSMGet Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. Williams-Sonoma’s quarterly revenue was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.11 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on WSM shares. Morgan Stanley raised Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Wedbush boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $230.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $261.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Barclays lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $237.25.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on WSM

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Williams-Sonoma

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $283,955,000 after buying an additional 15,078 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,456,161 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $226,287,000 after buying an additional 18,004 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $142,944,000 after buying an additional 35,315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 970,737 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $195,882,000 after buying an additional 23,918 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

Recommended Stories

Insider Buying and Selling by Quarter for Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM)

Receive News & Ratings for Williams-Sonoma Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Williams-Sonoma and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.