Brighton Jones LLC Cuts Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Brighton Jones LLC lessened its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 9.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,106 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 636 shares during the quarter. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $965,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WSM. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $33,000. Sentry Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $32,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the first quarter worth $43,000. Finally, OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth $49,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised Williams-Sonoma from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $181.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $177.06.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of NYSE:WSM opened at $158.14 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $157.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $177.62. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by $0.09. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.67 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.48 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is 29.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $164.33, for a total value of $4,929,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 996,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,825,013.91. This trade represents a 2.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 113,227 shares of company stock valued at $18,520,913. Insiders own 1.10% 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.