Yousif Capital Management LLC Has $2.60 Million Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 64.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,468 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 29,818 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $2,604,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 22.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,742 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 34,152 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,324,000 after buying an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 47,467 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $8,831,000 after buying an additional 4,512 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 463,799 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $85,886,000 after buying an additional 5,771 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 99.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $201.00 to $174.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $170.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $177.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total value of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,227 shares of company stock valued at $18,520,913 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of WSM stock opened at $153.93 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $156.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.68. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The company has a market cap of $18.93 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.47.

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

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, July 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 18th. Williams-Sonoma’s payout ratio is currently 29.90%.

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.