Linscomb & Williams Inc. Sells 3,318 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Linscomb & Williams Inc. reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 69,106 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 3,318 shares during the period. Williams-Sonoma accounts for 0.8% of Linscomb & Williams Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Linscomb & Williams Inc. owned about 0.11% of Williams-Sonoma worth $13,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in WSM. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 299 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. JGP Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,725 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,155,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 1,437 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WINTON GROUP Ltd boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 3,413 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $530,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at $2,013,591.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Williams-Sonoma news, CEO Laura Alber sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $318.53, for a total value of $6,370,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 555,550 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $176,959,341.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $289.06, for a total value of $330,973.70. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 6,966 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,013,591.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 61,145 shares of company stock worth $18,552,819. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $3.25 on Friday, hitting $287.81. 1,004,535 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,049,239. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.72. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $300.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $238.84. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $348.51.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 13th. The specialty retailer reported $5.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.06 by $0.38. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 54.50% and a net margin of 13.83%. The business had revenue of $2.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.50 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 15.75 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th were issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 18th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.90. This represents a $4.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.57%. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 27.75%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $250.00 to $298.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $200.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $310.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $259.94.

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.