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

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 555,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $176,959,341.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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

• On Friday, March 15th, Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.74, for a total transaction of $5,674,800.00.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $309.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $296.96 and a 200-day moving average of $233.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.72. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $109.44 and a 52 week high of $322.04.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) 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 company had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.22 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 12.25% and a return on equity of 55.15%. The company’s revenue was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.50 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 19th will be issued a dividend of $1.13 per share. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 31.02%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4,136.7% during the first quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 4,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the period. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 1st quarter worth about $229,000. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 1st quarter valued at about $802,000. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 4.4% in the 1st quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 1,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 25.3% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 81,943 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $26,019,000 after acquiring an additional 16,558 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WSM shares. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $220.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Telsey Advisory Group upped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $320.00 to $340.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $146.00 to $232.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $258.38.

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.