American Trust Sells 545 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

American Trust cut its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) by 18.0% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,486 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock after selling 545 shares during the quarter. American Trust’s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $276,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 1.3% in the third quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 103,899 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $12,438,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314 shares during the period. Credit Suisse AG increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 6.4% in the third quarter. Credit Suisse AG now owns 95,107 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $11,208,000 after purchasing an additional 5,680 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the second quarter worth $5,119,000. Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter worth $3,903,000. Finally, Intersect Capital LLC increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 51.8% in the second quarter. Intersect Capital LLC now owns 3,872 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,322 shares during the period. 99.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM opened at $116.86 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.78 billion, a PE ratio of 7.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.62. The business’s 50-day moving average is $126.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.28. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1 year low of $101.58 and a 1 year high of $176.89.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 16th. The specialty retailer reported $5.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.41 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $2.45 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.60 billion. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 83.08% and a net margin of 13.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.42 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 13.47 EPS for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 21st will be issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a $3.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 20th. This is an increase from Williams-Sonoma’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. Williams-Sonoma’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Telsey Advisory Group reduced their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $155.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $109.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 12th. Loop Capital cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $205.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $151.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $127.47.

Williams-Sonoma Profile

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Williams-Sonoma, Inc engages in the retailing of home products. It operates through the following segments: Pottery Barn, West Elm, Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn Kids and Teen and Other. The Other segment includes net revenues from international franchise operations, Rejuvenation and Mark and Graham.