Jeffrey Howie Sells 1,408 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Stock

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Jeffrey Howie also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 2nd, Jeffrey Howie sold 3,160 shares of Williams-Sonoma stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.39, for a total transaction of $560,552.40.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

NYSE WSM opened at $194.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.79. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $201.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $168.18. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $115.79 and a 1 year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 21st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 17th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.98%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mariner LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 11,225 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $2,079,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 396 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $643,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Westmount Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Westmount Partners LLC now owns 6,242 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,156,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bailard Inc. lifted its position in Williams-Sonoma by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 4,091 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Gordon Haskett upgraded Williams-Sonoma to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $190.00 target price (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $162.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $173.28.

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.