BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Acquires 105,911 Shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 117.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,998 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after acquiring an additional 105,911 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S owned approximately 0.16% of Williams-Sonoma worth $36,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 46.2% during the fourth quarter. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC now owns 23,950 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,435,000 after buying an additional 7,564 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 5.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 48.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 527,740 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $97,875,000 after acquiring an additional 172,409 shares during the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 316,535 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $58,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 132.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,905 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $723,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Williams-Sonoma

In related news, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.53, for a total transaction of $1,212,240.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 16,505 shares in the company, valued at $2,501,002.65. This represents a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total value of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 76,635 shares of company stock valued at $12,609,055 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WSM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Baird R W raised shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $190.00 to $170.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

WSM stock traded up $5.35 during trading on Thursday, reaching $151.23. The company had a trading volume of 683,306 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,056,978. The business has a 50 day moving average of $168.42 and a 200 day moving average of $172.89. The company has a market cap of $18.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.75%. This is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.30%.

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.