Wells Fargo & Company MN Trims Stock Position in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lessened its holdings in Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 305,878 shares of the specialty retailer's stock after selling 12,483 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.25% of Williams-Sonoma worth $56,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Williams-Sonoma during the 4th quarter worth approximately $290,121,000. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $418,223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,436 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 19,941.2% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 495,619 shares of the specialty retailer's stock valued at $91,779,000 after purchasing an additional 493,146 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Williams-Sonoma by 84.5% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,020,489 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $158,085,000 after purchasing an additional 467,407 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Williams-Sonoma by 118.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 622,279 shares of the specialty retailer's stock worth $96,403,000 after buying an additional 337,564 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.29% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Williams-Sonoma from $123.00 to $131.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $170.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Williams-Sonoma from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $140.00 to $165.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Gordon Haskett raised Williams-Sonoma to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $178.93.

Williams-Sonoma Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE WSM traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $148.96. 300,113 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,057,585. The firm has a market cap of $18.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.62, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.76. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. has a 1-year low of $125.33 and a 1-year high of $219.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.82.

Williams-Sonoma (NYSE:WSM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 19th. The specialty retailer reported $3.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.88 by $0.40. Williams-Sonoma had a return on equity of 51.56% and a net margin of 14.54%. The company 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 business posted $5.44 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Williams-Sonoma, Inc. will post 8.36 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 17th will be paid a $0.66 dividend. This represents a $2.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.77%. This is a boost from Williams-Sonoma's previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 17th. Williams-Sonoma's payout ratio is presently 29.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Laura Alber sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $207.76, for a total transaction of $9,349,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 944,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $196,263,808.16. The trade was a 4.55 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Karalyn Yearout sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,505 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,501,002.65. The trade was a 32.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 120,720 shares of company stock valued at $21,828,609. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Williams-Sonoma 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.