Seven Mile Advisory Trims Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Seven Mile Advisory cut its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 7.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,704 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 229 shares during the quarter. Seven Mile Advisory’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 76.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 94,973 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $14,713,000 after acquiring an additional 41,138 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 63.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 5,648 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the third quarter worth about $28,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $171,239,000 after purchasing an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at about $200,000. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.78, for a total transaction of $4,973,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,018,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,826,041.72. The trade was a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Gordon Haskett upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 3.4 %

Williams-Sonoma stock opened at $158.75 on Monday. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The stock has a market cap of $19.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $193.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.82.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

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.