Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lowered its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 39.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,018 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 39,273 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Williams-Sonoma were worth $11,114,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 107.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,689,451 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Williams-Sonoma in the fourth quarter worth about $290,121,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 104.8% in the third 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 valued at $171,239,000 after purchasing an additional 565,745 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Williams-Sonoma by 324.4% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,036,256 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $160,537,000 after purchasing an additional 792,068 shares during the last quarter. 99.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WSM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Williams-Sonoma from $153.00 to $168.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Telsey Advisory Group restated an "outperform" rating and set a $230.00 price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $195.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $170.00 to $224.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush cut their price target 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, thirteen have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $177.60.

Williams-Sonoma Price Performance

Shares of WSM stock traded up $0.70 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $158.80. The company had a trading volume of 1,603,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,982,200. The company has a 50 day moving average of $192.02 and a 200 day moving average of $174.07. The firm has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.82. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $2.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.44 earnings per share. Williams-Sonoma's quarterly revenue was up 8.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Williams-Sonoma Increases Dividend

The business 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 is a positive change from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's dividend payout ratio is 29.30%.

Insider Activity at Williams-Sonoma

In other news, CFO Jeffrey Howie sold 36,312 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.79, for a total transaction of $6,020,166.48. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,690,666.52. The trade was a 43.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total value of $9,349,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 944,666 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders sold a total of 112,720 shares of company stock valued at $20,616,369 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.