Alaska Permanent Fund Corp Sells 3,100 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Alaska Permanent Fund Corp reduced its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,500 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,100 shares during the period. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $3,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. AE Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth about $275,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 38.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 322 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 627 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at approximately $153,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 103,900.0% in the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 1,040 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $162,000 after buying an additional 1,039 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of WSM traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $285.51. The company had a trading volume of 741,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,020,715. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $271.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $215.93. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52-week low of $109.44 and a 52-week high of $319.78. The firm has a market cap of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.69.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 55.15% and a net margin of 12.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 31.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total value of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 505,509 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,433,123.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Marta Benson sold 17,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.19, for a total value of $5,490,713.04. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 68,597 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,140,909.43. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 505,509 shares in the company, valued at $143,433,123.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 41,145 shares of company stock valued at $12,182,219. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $270.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $248.06.

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.