Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Has $4.28 Million Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise grew its stake in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 162.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,602 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 17,071 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $4,276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WSM. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cassady Schiller Wealth Management LLC now owns 166 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC increased its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 520.0% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 93 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clean Yield Group purchased a new position in Williams-Sonoma in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Karalyn Smith sold 11,100 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.66, for a total value of $1,494,726.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,150 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,040,099. This represents a 42.29 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.49, for a total transaction of $5,219,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 990,956 shares of the company's stock, valued at $129,309,848.44. This represents a 3.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,100 shares of company stock worth $12,525,126 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of NYSE WSM traded up $37.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $175.04. 8,426,468 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,962,704. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a twelve month low of $88.63 and a twelve month high of $181.42. The firm has a market cap of $22.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.76. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $141.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $144.33.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The specialty retailer reported $1.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.13. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.57% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company had revenue of $1.79 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.56 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 7.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.39%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Williams-Sonoma from $158.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $136.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $138.84.

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.