Aristotle Capital Management LLC Sells 13,260 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

by · The Cerbat Gem

Aristotle Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM – Free Report) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,617,252 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 13,260 shares during the quarter. Aristotle Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma worth $577,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,269,096 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $283,955,000 after acquiring an additional 15,078 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 3.9% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,438,157 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $179,971,000 after buying an additional 53,754 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 24.1% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,408,911 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $204,292,000 after buying an additional 273,424 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,142,272 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $142,944,000 after buying an additional 35,315 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 951,820 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $119,105,000 after buying an additional 9,994 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.76% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $15,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 565,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $15,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 565,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,875,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 1,945 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $179.85, for a total value of $349,808.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 7,240 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,302,114. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 127,319 shares of company stock worth $19,400,492 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:WSM traded up $0.55 on Wednesday, reaching $195.79. 135,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,052,508. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $109.44 and a 1-year high of $199.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.07 and its 200-day moving average is $142.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.60.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 16th. The specialty retailer reported $3.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.34 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.95 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a net margin of 11.99% and a return on equity of 59.65%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 14.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 20th were paid a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 19th. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio is 24.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WSM has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $144.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $120.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $125.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Williams-Sonoma has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $154.31.

Read Our Latest Report on Williams-Sonoma

Williams-Sonoma Profile

(Free Report)

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.

See Also

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