Cibc World Markets Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Cibc World Markets Corp trimmed its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,717 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 1,778 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp's holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $1,059,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of WSM. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 72.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,781,201 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $1,360,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,695,837 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 108.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,329,125 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $825,588,000 after buying an additional 2,777,339 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $418,223,000 after buying an additional 1,393,436 shares in the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $160,537,000 after acquiring an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 1,105,336 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $171,239,000 after acquiring an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $230.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a report on Monday, March 17th. Gordon Haskett raised shares of Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Williams-Sonoma from $226.00 to $208.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Williams-Sonoma presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $177.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE WSM traded down $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $169.10. The company had a trading volume of 1,902,362 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,917,607. The stock has a market cap of $20.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.33 and a 52 week high of $219.98. The business's 50-day moving average is $196.16 and its 200-day moving average is $173.17.

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

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.