91,400 Shares in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Purchased by KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 91,400 shares of the specialty retailer's stock, valued at approximately $16,925,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS owned approximately 0.07% of Williams-Sonoma at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Stifel Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 94.8% in the third quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 19,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 9,509 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 67.4% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 29,959 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,641,000 after acquiring an additional 12,061 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 109,359 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $20,251,000 after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the period. Commerce Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 136.3% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 9,801 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 5,654 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares during the period. 99.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. UBS Group raised Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:WSM traded down $1.20 on Tuesday, reaching $169.10. 1,902,362 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,917,607. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.90. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12 month low of $125.33 and a 12 month high of $219.98. The firm has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company had revenue of $2.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.44 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 17th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 1,408 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.32, for a total transaction of $273,602.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,014,116.16. This represents a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. This trade represents a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Williams-Sonoma Company 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.