JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lessened its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 15.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 525,476 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 96,803 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.43% of Williams-Sonoma worth $97,308,000 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. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 83.6% in the third quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 21,461 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $3,325,000 after buying an additional 9,771 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Williams-Sonoma during the 3rd quarter valued at about $369,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 36.8% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $378,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 639.1% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 115,512 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $17,893,000 after purchasing an additional 99,883 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Investment Management Corp of Ontario lifted its stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 111.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 31,890 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $4,940,000 after acquiring an additional 16,795 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business'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 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 $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. This trade represents a 43.91 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 112,720 shares of company stock worth $20,616,369. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $185.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target 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. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an "in-line" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Telsey Advisory Group reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $176.93.

Williams-Sonoma Stock Up 2.2 %

Williams-Sonoma stock traded up $3.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.94. The stock had a trading volume of 6,801,017 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,019,695. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $189.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $173.77. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 12-month low of $125.33 and a 12-month high of $219.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $2.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.30%.

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.